


Ghosts Through The Prism

by Hagar



Series: Shadow Line [5]
Category: Power Rangers in Space
Genre: Drama, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Families of Choice, Family Drama, Female Characters, Female Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Novella, Quest, Rare Characters, Redemption, Romance, Siblings, Sisters, Spirit Animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-09-17
Updated: 2004-09-16
Packaged: 2017-10-02 16:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 32,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hagar/pseuds/Hagar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the war, the rebuilding of life: Cassie searches for the Phantom, Andros goes on a quest, Karone and Ashley have any number of crises on their hands, and Carlos and Shiera's relationship continues to be rocky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Family Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> The story is simultanously taking place at multiple locations at planets, which means a whole multitude of time zones. Each planet has its own time zone. The scenes within each chapter are in linear order.
> 
> This story takes place after the third part of the SLT but before its epilogue.
> 
> Consider the story title to be something of a riddle.

_Earth, Angel Grove, early morning_

She ran across the street. Three months were too short a time to believe, and the fears were still enough to drive her nearly mad with worry whenever she was away for too long. Knowing that in actuality there was nothing to fear made it possible for Shiera to leave the house; it did not stop her from running as fast as she could on her way back. She halted abruptly mere meters from the gate.

Dew-wet herb plants on the windowsill; embroidered curtain drown open, moving slightly with the breeze; the kitchen, warmed by the sunlight spilling all over it; and the skinny twelve-years-old sitting at the table, her back to the window, studying the cereals box intently as she ate, milk dripping from her spoon every now and then.

_There is nothing to fear._

She inhaled deeply, calming down her racing heart as she watched the normal and miraculous scene of her sister having breakfast. Her sister moving was a sight Shiera could not get enough of, and her eyes drank it hungrily and deeply like desert plants may drink rainfall after a drought.

_She's all right._

Relief swept over her in huge waves. Being away for too long always made Shiera fear that something may happen to Emma in her absence. She always came running, whether from the park or from the next room, to find Emma unhurt. The relief was the same each time.

_She's home._

Emma was only home for a week. A week was too short a time to adjust. Part of the driving force behind Shiera's frantic run came from the fear that she'd only been dreaming, and that Emma was still in the hospital. But there was Emma, visible through the flapping curtains.

_She's awake._

This was the biggest, greatest miracle of all, the one that nearly made Shiera's knees collapse. That Emma was awake; that finally, after four years, Shiera finally had her sister back. She walked, quite wobbly, the remaining distance, and forced the gate open with a hand that shook far too much.

_Fears are irrational._

She heard a chair pushed back and small feet running. Emma came around the corner, looking at the sun-framed figure in the doorway.

"I woke up and you weren't here", she said.

"Sorry, sweetie" Shiera hugged Emma, picking her up: Emma was skinny and Shiera was strong. "I thought I'd get back before you wake"

"I woke early"

"So I noticed" Shiera carried Emma to the kitchen; it was hardly comfortable to any of them, but both were just as reluctant to break contact. "Why'd you wake up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep" Emma craned her neck to keep eye contact with her elder sister as Shiera grabbed a pitcher and a glass. "So I watched cartoons till I got hungry. Where were you?"

"In the park" Shiera gulped down the water. "Sparring"

"With Carlos?"

"With Carlos"

"Is sparring something boyfriends and girlfriends do?"

Shiera laughed out loud. "Not normally, no"

"Why?"

"Because most people don't spar at all"

Emma thought this over as she hunted marshmallow animals with her spoon. "You didn't spar once, too", she said thoughtfully. "When'd you start?"

Shiera froze momentarily. "I'd rather not discuss this over breakfast", she said finally.

"Why?"

"Let's just don't, okay, Emma?"

"It's not a good thing?"

"Not a good thing", confirmed Shiera.

"But you like Martial Arts. So why is this not a good thing?"

"Emma…" sighed Shiera. "I'd rather not, really, sweetie, okay?"

"Okay" said Emma. "But we're going to the fair today"

In a quiet corner of her heart, Shiera sighed with relief. "And I'll win you another teddy bear"

Emma squealed. Shiera heaved another mental sigh.

* * *

_Kerova, Kyota, hours before dawn_

In another kitchen, light years away, a blond teenager was sitting at the table, pouring over data pads and reaching, once in a while, for the steaming mug of hot cocoa floating next to her left hand.

Two columns of light, red and silver, shot into the kitchen. The mug dropped, but the blond managed to balance it and float it the table faster than most people could blink. When the light faded she was already on her feet, ready to hug the two haggard young men who just teleported in.

"Andros! Zhane! Finally!"

There was little Andros could do save choke. Zhane, the taller of the two, managed to whisper hoarsely "Karone, we're gonna need those necks later!"

"Oh, you!" she said, letting go of her brother so she could put both her arms around her boyfriend's neck and pull his head down for a very long kiss. "I missed you so much!"

"We were only gone for two days", muttered Andros. He only allowed himself to say it because he thought his sister was too busy kissing his best friend. He was wrong. Karone's first breathless words when she and Zhane broke off were "I missed you for years"

"You're being an insensitive jerk, Andros", said Zhane, just as breathlessly. He kissed Karone's nose. "I missed you like crazy"

"You are crazy", said Karone with a definite pout. She kissed him on his lips, briefly, and turned to Andros, hand on her hips. "Are you saying you didn't miss me?"

His only answer was to hug the air out of her - a gesture she returned with vengeance.

A pillow floated from the living room and dropped itself on Zhane's head.

"Ow!" he sputtered. "What was that for?"

"Stealing Karone's hot cocoa" said Andros.

"Admit it, you wanted to steal it yourself"

"Boys", groaned Karone. With a wave of her hands and two swirls of purple, two more mugs appeared, right in front of Andros and Zhane's respective noses. "Here"

Both grabbed the mugs and dropped into chairs, tiredness finally setting in.

"Did you stay awake just for us?" asked Andros.

"I had work to do" Karone picked her own mug and pointed at the data piles. "I'm running some economic predictions"

"Since when are you an expert on economics?" asked Zhane.

"Since yesterday" answered Karone shortly. "I didn't like not having a clue on what those economists are saying, so I decided to study it myself"

"My girlfriend, the genius" said Zhane proudly. Andros tried to glare at him but failed miserably, as he felt pretty much the same: whatever topic Karone set her mind to, she mastered with remarkable speed.

"So how was the raid?" asked Karone.

"Good" said Andros.

"Only good?" she asked.

"Not really" shrugged Zhane. "There were a few surprises"

"Such as?" asked Karone, frowning.

Andros smiled over the ream of his mug. "We captured Divatox"

"You're joking!"

"Andros? Joking? Never" said Zhane in-between careful sips; the cocoa wasn't hot, it was scorching. "We took a detour through Netherie and dropped her on Hurán's lap"

Karone giggled. "I can imagine…"

"Karone?" drifted a sleepy tired voice from the upper floor. "Who're you talking to?"

"No-one, Kirrie" called Karone as softly as she can. "Go back to sleep"

"I thought I heard…" Zhane's younger sister ignored the stairs and jumped downstairs. The three teenagers in the kitchen braced themselves. They were not disappointed. Kirrie's squeal when she saw Andros and Zhane probably woke the entire neighbourhood.

"Zhane! Andros! You're home! I knew it! Mom, Nita, THEY'RE HOME!"

Doors flew open and closed with a crash. Two pairs of feet thundered downstairs.

"Zhane!" Nita, the older of Zhane's sisters, threw herself at her brother's neck. At fifteen years of age, she was almost as tall as her brother, and still growing. "You were going to wake us _when?_"

Andros tried to edge back. Nita noticed this, and reaching out with her arm, dragged him for a three-way hug.

"I do believe they weren't going to", said Rya, Zhane's mom, dryly. "He and Andros must have had the misguided idea that we would rather sleep"

"Sorry, Rya" said Andros meekly.

"Nonsense. Come here". She crushed both her boys for a short hug, planting kisses on their forehead. "You're home safe, and that all that matters"

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove, late morning_

Late morning hours on an Angel Grove summer day: the heat settled in and would not be ignored. Some people dealt with it by remaining sheltered in their air-conditioned houses and offices. Others went swimming.

_Considering that we have both a seaside and a lake_, thought Carlos, irritated, _you could think the pool wouldn't be so packed_. In actuality, the pool wasn't nearly crowded, or Shiera wouldn't have a lane all to herself �" Carlos could see her in his peripheral vision, cutting across the water with her usual grace. His focus wasn't on her, though: he was trying to remind Emma how to swim, and failing. The pool wasn't crowded, but there were enough people there to throw Emma off: she simply couldn't concentrate with other people around.

"Come on, Emma, give it another try"

"I don't wanna", said Emma. "Can't we just leave it?"

Twelve may be her age, but mentally, Emma was an eight-years-old. Carlos had to keep reminding himself of that.

"You can do it just fine, Emma", he said patiently. "You managed great a few minutes ago. Let's try again, okay?"

"I don't want to swim" she insisted. "I want to go home and play"

"You need to be active so you can recover your strength and your coordination" explained Carlos. "Swimming is a good for you, and it's more fun than any other activity in this heat"

Emma wrinkled her nose. "The doctors said I'll need months of therapy just to be able to walk again, but I started to walk on my own two weeks after I woke up"

"I'm not going to say that your recovery was anything short of miraculous, but you've also been slowing down to a more normal rate lately"

"I'm just fine. Can't we go home?"

Carlos counted quietly from ten to one. He was hardly the best person to do this, but Emma refused flat-out to spend any time with strangers - be they physiotherapists or swimming instructors - and Shiera could not push Emma for the world. Therefore, as Shiera' boyfriend and Emma's surrogate brother, he was handed the task of teaching Emma to swim, play ball, and generally drag her out of the house.

"Hi Carlos!" something pink flashed over their heads, crashed into the water, and resurfaced with a big smile.

"Hi Sylvie" said Carlos.

"Is she your sister?" asked Sylvie. "She doesn't look like you"

"Naw, she's my girlfriend's sister. Emma, this is Sylvie. Sylvie, Emma"

"Hi" said Sylvie cheerfully.

"Hi" answered Emma cautiously.

"You wanna play?" asked Sylvie.

"I'm kind of busy, Sylvie"

Sylvie snorted. "I didn't ask _you_, I asked _her_. You wanna play, Emma?"

Emma glanced up at Carlos.

"I'm supposed to learn to swim", she said.

Carlos forced back a triumphant smile: for Emma this was progress - in all past encounters with other girls, Emma said that "they were just going home".

"You can play if you want", he said. "I'll stay right here and watch you"

One heartbeat, two heartbeats, three…

"Okay" said Emma.

Sylvie's smile widened.

* * *

_Kerova, Kyota, shortly after dawn_

They didn't close the hangings properly before they fell asleep, and so Zhane and Karone's faces were illuminated with narrow strips of pale dawn sunlight. It wasn't enough to wake them; neither was the whisper of their opening door, or Andros quiet breathing as he stood there and watched two-thirds of his heart sleep peacefully.

He'd never quite noticed before how beautiful they both were. Sure, he knew his sister was pretty, he knew the girls just adored Zhane, but he never quite _saw _it; not like this. Both his best friend and his sister were reserved people, hardly letting anyone - even him - see more of themselves than they intended. In their sleep, they wore their hearts on their faces: Zhane was bone-weary, and Karone older than her years, but the love they excluded was almost tangible, and the trust on their faces made Andros stop breathing. It should have disturbed him, to see his sister lying like this with any man, even it was the one Andros would trust above all others; still he could not help but admire the way their hair and complexions matched perfectly, the way they wrapped themselves around each other like they were meant to be one, not two. Standing like that in the doorway, he knew such love was too precious to be frowned upon - even by an over-protective and slightly neurotic brother.

He swallowed.

Perhaps this was not a good idea; perhaps he should have left the note on the table in the hall, or even on their closed door… But no: if he was going to do this, he had to look at them again; to memorize their faces.

Because deep down in his heart, he did not know if he would be coming back.

He gulped, and steeled himself.

He tiptoed into the room, as quietly as he could, holding his breath: both were light sleepers. He made it to Zhane's bureau, put down the note - the paper scratched - and scampered outside as fast as he could while still maintaining complete silence. He reached the door.

Sheets rustled.

Turning his head, he saw Karone moving in her sleep, muttering something. She settled almost immediately. Before something could go wrong, Andros wrenched his head from the peaceful scene and stepped outside.

He never saw Zhane opening his eyes, or the fear on his face as he caught the red glow sifting under the door.

"Andros!"

Zhane leaped out of bed - Karone's staff materialized in her hand as she woke with a start - and yanked the door open.

The corridor was empty.

"Andros?"

"He's not there, Zhane"

He turned around to face her, his eyes troubled. "That's the problem, Karone. He's not here. I saw his teleportation light under the door"

"Are you sure?" she asked, but before he could answer her, she caught sight of the note on the bureau, and her breath caught in her throat. She held out her hand. The note disappeared in sparks and appeared in her hand.

"It's for both of us", she said shakily, putting away the staff. "Why, Zhane?"

"I don't know, sweetheart" he crossed the distance back to the bed and set by her side, pulling her close. "I honestly don't know"

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove, around noon_

"Why not?" asked Carlos.

"Because they've had enough ice cream", said Shiera firmly.

"You're the only one who thinks so", said Sylvie, and promptly hid behind Carlos' back. She needn't have bothered - Shiera did not as much as spare her a glare.

"You don't think two cones are dessert enough?" she asked.

"They're growing girls", pointed Carlos. "Come on, stop going all Adam over them, and then we can go a couple of rounds"

Shiera's brows shot up. "Going all Adam?" she repeated.

"Yeah, you know, 'you are what you eat' and all that. Come on, tell me he didn't give you that lecture at least twice a week"

"He gave it to me once, and didn't have to say it again" But Carlos knew he won. "Fine. But that's the last". She took Emma's hand.

"We can go alone", said Sylvie indignantly. "It's just around the bend"

This time Shiera did glare at her, and Sylvie fell silent. Later, though, when Carlos and Shiera were sparring again, and the two smaller girls set on the grass eating their ice cream, Sylvie said: "What's up with her? Even my mom doesn't fret so much"

"She's worried about me getting hurt"

Sylvie snorted. "Yeah, but why?"

"Because" said Emma. "How come you and Carlos are such friends?"

"He babysat me once"

"Once?"

"I sort of stuck to him", admitted Sylvie. "It was just after Denis died, and…" She stopped.

"Denis is your brother?" asked Emma after a few moments of silence.

Sylvie nodded.

Emma looked away. "I was hurt in a monster attack, four years ago", she said.

Sylvie waited.

"I was comatose since then. I only woke a couple of months ago". Emma paused. "I guess that's why she's so anxious about me"

"But there aren't monster attacks anymore"

Emma shrugged.

Sylvie chewed on her lower lip. "My parents have been more worried about me ever since Denis got sick", she said thoughtfully. "And it's only gotten worse after… Maybe it's kind of the same thing. Only you got better"

"Yeah". Emma drew her knees to her chest. "I don't know why, though"

"Uh?"

"I was brain dead. I wasn't supposed to ever wake up - the chances were, like, one in a zillion. And then one day the damage was just _gone_ and I woke up and I started talking almost straight away, and I started walking after a couple of weeks and it should have taken me _months_ just to be able to sit"

"A miracle; good for you"

"Miracle is what everyone keep telling me"

Sylvie blinked. "That's what it's called"

Emma looked at her seriously. "Promise not to tell?" she asked.

"Sure"

"_Promise_ promise. I never told this to anyone"

Sylvie barely hesitated. "I swear", she said solemnly.

Emma's nails dug into her palm as she stared to the horizon again. "I remember dreams", she said very quietly. "There's a girl, Shiera's age, with lots of red her, and she puts her hand to my forehand and tells me to wake up; and there are other dreams, with that redhead and Shiera talking, but I can't understand what they say because my hearing is like a badly tuned radio; and there's this guy who's friends with Shiera and Carlos, Jason, and sometimes he shows up in my dreams and he's always _screaming_ like somebody' trying to kill him and then the building fall again" she spoke the last sentence very rashly, and ran out of breath. "And once Shiera brought home a friend of hers who looks just like the redhead from my dreams, and I asked her if I met her before and she said I didn't, but I'm sure that's her and that she and Shiera lied when they said I never met her"

Sylvie was chewing her lip again, looking at Emma intently. "Ever told Shiera about the dreams?" she asked.

"No, I told you you're the first person I tell about this"

"Well, maybe you should tell her, too"

"I don't know"

Sylvie shrugged. "You want her to tell you the truth, you should tell her the truth also", she said simply.

Emma blinked. "But she's my _big sister_"

"You told me and we just met. She loves you"

"You think?"

Sylvie looked at Emma incredulously. "You kidding?"

Emma shrugged. "She spends so much time with Carlos"

"Doesn't mean she doesn't love you. It's like that stupid question people always ask, who you love better, your mom or you dad"

Emma thought it over. "Okay", she said; then, after a pause: "Sylvie? Are we friends?"

"Sure we are". Sylvie held out her hand.

Emma shook her solemnly.

* * *

_Netherie, the Gardens, midnight_

_I kneel by the fountain, and dip my hand in the water. It's a hot summer day, and I am thirsty. The water surface is glistening, reflecting the light; it hurts my eyes to look at it, so I narrow them._

_I raise my hand from the water. My palm is cupped, but the water slip through still. The rational part of my mind tells me, that the water molecules are so small that they can pass where even light can't. The irrational part of me holds a different opinion. The water in my hand, it tells me, wish to return to their origin._

_I know that the water will vanish soon. I drink as fast as I can. One, two, three mouthfuls, and then my hand runs dry. My lips are dry, too, as if I drank nothing. As if they've been scorched by something more terrible than the light._

_The wind beats into my face, full of sand and dust. Its taste is foul in my mouth, like toxics and malice. My fingers are dipped into the sand, instead of water. The grains are parched and their color muted, gray, so different from the bright water, so different from the fertile soil they once were._

_The grains, too, slip through my fingers. There are neither will, nor life, in them. They fall, for gravity has a hold on them, and I can't fasten my trembling hands. It's not that they can't be held: it is I, who cannot retain what I hold…_

Melissa's eyes flew open. _A dream_, she reminded herself. Breath after breath, she forced her racing heart to slow down, her muscles to calm. _Just a dream_. Strange, that a mere dream could frighten her so: she, who had seen her family massacred before her eyes when she was four years old; she, whose sister killed herself so that Melissa could live; she, who's been a warrior since she was twelve. What she's seen filled her every nightmare, and all her dreams were nightmares; until this dream.

_If only I could sleep!_ She rolled over. She hasn't slept for three days and nights, now. At times, she could go for a week without sleep. She's barely slept for years, and it never bothered her: quite on the contrary. Lately, though, she found herself yearning for more rest. The power of The Light was no longer enough to sustain her.

The thought came unbidden. _Pity Ashley lives on Earth_. The bearer of Hope never failed to guard Melissa's sleep, but Ashley lived on Earth, and had her life and her commitments there. Of the little family Melissa had, only Hurán lived on Netherie - but he had his missions and she had hers, and their schedules rarely met. _I should be stronger than that_.

_No-one should be alone._

_Go away!_ Melissa chased away the gentle voice she knew so well, that voice which sounded just like hers, the voice the preserved her sanity during her lonely years as Phoenix: Oshra's voice. _Leave me be…_

_No-one should be alone…_

But the voice faded into a whisper, and was gone. Melissa was still mistress of her own mind. Oshra's presence was comforting, but also dangerous: Karone mentioned, more than once, that at times she found it hard to differentiate between the two - and Melissa had no intention of becoming Oshra; none at all.

The memories rustled at the back of her head, anxiously trying to get her attention, but Melissa closed the lid on them firmly. She was going to sleep, now, and she was going to sleep until dawn - peacefully; dreamlessly. _Once a night_, she told herself, _is enough. Now I will **sleep**._

* * *

_Phaedos, not far from Dulcea's camp, dusk_

"I'm not an enemy!" Andros raised his hands, so that the cloak's sleeves fell off and revealed his morpher.

Even under the hood, Dulcea's glare was evident.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Andros, red Astro Ranger" he said, hands still raised.

She withdrew her staff and lowered her hood. "If you are here for the Great Power of the Ninjetti, turn back now. You cannot quest without your team"

Andros got up and dusted himself somewhat. "I'm not here to quest", he told her, "But I am here to be tested"

"Explain"

"It would take time"

She stood unmoving, her eyes boring into his.

He averted his gaze.

"Please", he whispered. "I didn't know who else to turn to. If you send me away…"

Her eyes softened, but he couldn't see it.

"Why would you ever wish to be tested, Andros of Kerova, now that you have won your war?"

His head turned sharply, and he met her eyes again. "I did not win _my_ war. The war my _team_ just won was for everyone"

He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw her head tilt slightly to the side. "I think I understand", she said, almost to herself. "It only makes sense. Let's go, then". She pulled her hood back up. "The camp is that way. Follow me"

* * *

_Phaedos, Dulcea's camp, shortly afterwards_

The fire was already burning when they reached camp. Dulcea shook her head when he made to speak, silencing him. She gave him a pot and pointed him to a spring without a word. When he returned, a few moments later, she had the vegetables and the herbs for the soup chopped and ready. They did not exchange a word while she stirred the soup, or even when she poured it into two bowls. Only when they were halfway through their second serving did Dulcea break the silence.

"Why are you here, Andros?" she asked, her voice quiet enough not to startle him. "Why do you think that you should be tested?"

He looked down at his spoon. "Do you know about the Ejernor family?" he asked.

"Yes"

"Do you know that I am an Ejernor?"

"The hair gives you away" she said, amused. "The three stripes are typical to the men of the Ejernor line"

He blinked, but continues as he intended to. "Have you ever heard of the Light Bearers?"

"Yes, I have". Now was her turn to look away for a moment. "I was there. I told her she was wrong, to let a bearer be who was evil"

"So you would understand why I'm here". He lifted the red crystal so she could see it. "The memories, they're driving me crazy. I… I don't know - I don't think it's right - for me to be a Ranger like this. It's like… it's as if I'm lying to everyone… about what I am"

She looked at him seriously over the rim of her bowl. "You're not him, Andros", she told him. "You are not Kaylan, and you are not evil. I would have known - even if no one else would have"

"I still feel tainted". His eyes dropped down to his hands. "I still feel wrong"

She was silent for quite a while.

"Maybe I should test you", she said finally. "If that's how you feel"

"Thank…."

She raised her hand. "Don't thank me yet", she warned. "You'll be given three chances, Andros. If you succeed in any of them the test will terminate. If you fail the first or the second chances, you can still quit: you will retain you life, but not your powers. If you fail the third, too, you will die. The spirits of the Ninjetti will test you, and they make no exceptions. Do you understand, Andros?"

He answered without hesitation. "Yes"

She took a sip from her soup. "First we finish dinner", she said. "Then the test will begin"

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove, evening_

The chimes over the door rang. Emma ran to the door.

"Mom!" she called happily, throwing herself at her mother.

"Hi, baby girl", laughed Amanda Karlson, picking up her daughter and kissing her on the cheek. "How was your day, sweetheart?"

"Okay", said Emma. "We went to the pool, and I met this girl called Sylvie and we played and…"

"You made a new friend? How great"

"Yeah, she's a friend of Carlos' too"

Amanda frowned as she set on a kitchen chair, pulling Emma to her lap. "How old is Sylvie, dear? Hello, Shiera"

"Hi mom"

"I don't know, mommy"

"She's nine", answered Shiera, who was peeling potatoes by the sink. "Carlos babysat her a couple of times"

Amanda's face brightened. "Well then, that's just great. What else did you do today?"

"We went to the fair and Shiera won me three prizes!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I gave one of mine to Sylvie because Carlos won her only one. Well, actually, he won two, but he gave one to Shiera"

Amanda laughed. "Where's your dad, girls?" she asked. "Shouldn't he be home by now?"

"He arrived home about an hour ago", said Shiera. She dropped the last peeled potato into the bowl and wiped her hands on the apron, turning around. "He started on dinner but then realized we were a couple of things short, so he jumped to the store and left me with the potato peels"

"He left you with the potatoes", corrected Emma. "You made the peels"

"Same difference" shot Shiera, but her smile was wide and genuine, and there was no hostility in the tone of her voice - only playfulness. This was a Shiera Amanda believed long gone.

_Thank you so very much, o Lord_, thought Amanda, drawing Emma slightly closer to her, _for giving me both my daughters back when I thought I lost them both_.

Shiera must have noticed her mother's thoughts, for her smile softened. Before she could say anything, though, the door chimes rang again.

"I'm home!" yelled Ethan Karlson from the door.

"I'm done with the potatoes!" yelled Shiera, drowning her mother's welcome. Amanda flinched - she could never understand how Shiera packed lungs like Pavarotti's into that thin frame of hers.

"You may want to shout louder, I think there are a couple of people on the other side of town who didn't hear you" suggested Ethan, coming into the kitchen and dropping the supplies on the table. "Hi hon" he kissed his wife on her cheek, "How was your day?"

"Okay. How was yours?"

"Fine. Well, don't just stand there, Shiera, slice the things!"

"Why can't I do the sauce?" complained Shiera as she picked the knife.

"Because you cut hard, un-boiled potatoes like most people cut butter", he answered shortly, but kissed his daughter's cheek - or tried to: Shiera evaded him. "And because you're the best sauce-burner I've ever had the misfortune of meeting"

Ethan's eyes caught Amanda's - and she saw that they reflected her feelings perfectly. She blinked away tears, planting a kiss on Emma's head. _We're so lucky_, she thought.

"Mom! Stop!" Emma squirmed away and set on her own chair. "Enough kissing me!"

Amanda laughed. "But you're so sweet!" she teased.

"Mom!"

Laughter rang across the kitchen.

Emma slid off her chair and went over to Shiera.

"Shiera?" she asked tentatively. "Would you answer me a question?"

"Sure thing"

"Promise to?"

Shiera looked down at Emma; her hands continued to slice potatoes.

"What's this about, Emma?" she asked.

"Promise?"

"I promise. What you wanna ask?"

"_Want to_, Shiera" corrected Amanda.

"Why do you always wear green?" asked Emma. "I hate green"

Shiera's hand slid; blood stained the potatoes. Shiera put down the knife, staring at Emma. "Maybe we should all sit down" she said, her voice forcibly calm. "This would take while"

"First we fix your finger", said Ethan firmly. "Put it under the water while I get the bandages"

Mutely, Shiera raised her hand for him to see.

"It's already clotted", she said quietly. "In five minutes it would be completely gone. Will you please sit down?"

Staring, Ethan set.

"You too, Emma"

"Come here, dear", said Amanda. Emma set on her mother's lap.

Still standing by the sink, Shiera looked at them.

_What are those shadows in her eyes?_ Wondered both her parents.

"Mom, dad - Emma", began Shiera. "I'm the current green Ranger"

* * *

_Phaedos, Dulcea's camp, night_

"You want to sit comfortably", said Dulcea. "There's no knowing how long it will take"

Andros nodded, settling. "I'm ready"

Dulcea picked some powder from a pouch on her waist, and sprinkled it on the fire; the flames rose high.

"Look into the fire", she told him quietly. "And into your heart. Concentrate…"

For Andros, the world disappeared in a flash of red.

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove, evening_

"I'm the current green Ranger", said Shiera. "Carlos is black. The rest of the gang, except for Karen and Melissa, are Rangers too"

Ethan's eyes were wide. "You're a _Power Ranger_?"

"Did you have to be green?" asked Emma, at the same time Amanda asked: "Why green, of all the colors?"

"I didn't choose my color", said Shiera.

"If it was the only color left, couldn't you switch with someone, just so you wouldn't be green?" asked Emma.

"How's you get the power from the evil one?" asked Ethan.

"What evil one?" asked Emma.

"When the current green Ranger first appeared, they were evil", explained Amanda quietly. "Then they disappeared for a while, and when they appeared again, they were good". She looked at Shiera questioningly.

"The morpher was given to me - " began Shiera. She was holding the sink behind her. Her knuckles were white.

"What's a morpher?" Interrupted Ethan.

"It's the tool used to transform into a Power Ranger - to morph, as we call it". She raised her right hand. "This ring is my morpher". She took a deep breath. "It was given to me by Astronema"

Seconds ticked by.

"Astronema?" asked Amanda shakily. "Wasn't she the woman the Rangers were fighting?"

"Yes"

"What?" exploded Ethan. He was heard even above Emma's scream of pure terror.

"What do you mean, she gave it to you?" demanded Amanda. "Surely you didn't fight for her?"

"I did. You see…"

Emma screamed again.

"How could you?" cried Amanda, hugging Emma close. "How could you _ever_, Shiera?"

"Mom, you don't understand…"

"We understand well enough", said Ethan frostily.

Shiera looked at them. Her mouth opened, as if to say something…

"There can be no explanations", said Amanda.

Shiera exited the kitchen. They could hear her steps on the stairs.

Amanda and Ethan exchanged worried glances above the head of a sobbing Emma.

* * *

_The realm of the Ninjetti spirits_

The world disappeared in a blaze of red, and appeared again. The place where Andros found himself looked very much like Dulcea's camp, but it wasn't: Dulcea wasn't there; there was no pot over the fire, and no bowls; everything more than ten feet away from the fire was only darkness; and a dagger hung on Andros' belt.

Andros looked down, not touching it: the blade was red, stained with darker red. It was the dagger Andros gave to Shiera, Kaylan's dagger, looking as it did before it was purified by Shiera's will.

Throwing it away would require Andros to touch it.

"I am your first test", said a familiar, chilly voice.

Andros raised his eyes, the voice having filled his heart with dread. Across the fire stood Astronema, staff in head. She was dressed in her armor, but her makeup and her hair were different: her makeup was ghostly pale and lighter, making her seem more like Karone, and her hair was neither Astronema's usual curls nor Karone's elegant blond - it was blood-red, unnaturally straight and chin-length.

"You will either kill me", she continued, "Or be killed by me". And without further ado, she stroke.

Andros leaped aside, barely escaping the purple lightning. "Karone", he pleaded, rising into a stance. "Listen to me…"

"I am not Karone", she said, jumping easily over the fire and aiming another energy blow at him. "Karone is no more. I am Astronema"

He ducked behind a boulder and reached for his morpher -

"Blast"

"Missing something, _red Ranger_?"

His morpher was gone.

He took two deep, calming breaths. "Karone…" he began again.

"I told you", she said. "I am not Karone". Her voice was directly above him.

Again, he rolled aside just in time.

"I don't want to hurt you", he said.

"Pity", she said. Her smile sent shivers down his spine. "I have every intention of hurting you"

She charged.

He ducked under her blow, and tried a kick -

She knocked him off balance and took a step forward -

He managed to flip over, rather than fall, and aimed a punch -

She diverted it with her staff, nearly breaking his arm, and tried to stab him -

He tried to pull the weapon out of her hands -

He succeeded.

They stood there, panting, looking at each other.

She leaped, sending a flying kick to his head -

He was not used to a staff, but he managed to sidestep. He aimed a flat blow to her back -

She was too fast. She landed with a roll and charged right in again, trying to get her weapon back -

Andros reached out, instincts faster than though -

He skewered her. Shocked, he dropped the staff. Girl and staff fell together.

"Karone?" he asked, kneeling by her side. "Karone, I'm so sorry…"

But she was already dead.

"I'm sorry", he whispered brokenly.

The staff vanished. Astronema's body shifted, and suddenly a red-clothed man whom Andros didn't know was lying on the ground, looking at Andros sharply.

"What do you think the test was?"

"I had to kill her", said Andros.

The man set up. "Was that all the test was about?"

Andros shook his head. "No - I had to kill her, because she was Astronema; even that she was my sister"

The man shook his head. "That was not the test", he said. "Therefore, you fail. If you quite now, you will leave with your life. Do you wish to quit the test?"

"I won't quit", said Andros.

The man nodded and was gone; Andros's robes turned white. He walked back to the fire, looking around warily as he did so: if Astronema was the first test, he hated to think what might attack him next. It took him a few minutes to realize that the shock of killing Karone's look-alike wasn't the only thing making him shaky - color withdrawal was already setting in, slowing his reflexes and dimming his senses: not good, considering that…

A monster walked in from the darkness surrounding the campfire. Andros cursed - this was the monster that nearly had him three years ago: the one that put Zhane in cryosleep when he saved Andros from it.

The monster aimed and shot. At first Andros thought it missed, as the discharge hit somewhere behind him. Then he turned around - and saw Zhane tied to a rock, apparently unconscious, or…

_He can't be dead!_ Thought Andros frantically as he ran the short distance to his friend. He put his fingers to Zhane's neck and breathed in relief as he found pulse.

The monster shot again, this time from a shorter distance. Andros covered Zhane's body with his. For some strange reason he wasn't knocked out, but merely shocked and disoriented; and the monster was coming closer still. A few more steps, Andros knew, and the monster would simply pry him aside and break Zhane's neck. Steeling himself, Andros waiting until he could feel the monster's presence right behind him.

He turned around and thrust Kaylan's tainted dagger right into the monster's midsection.

The monster, the dagger, the rock and Zhane all disappeared.

The circle of light around the campfire was suddenly filled with animals.

A red lizard, as large as a person, looked around. _Does he pass?_ It asked.

_He does not_, said the dear, shaking his antlers. _Were it not for his friend, he wouldn't have acted_.

_His heart is pure_, argued a crane, _and his cause is just. Let him pass_.

_We cannot just "let him pass"_, said the owl, _the rules must be kept_.

A large snake raised his diamond-shaped head. _If he passes now_, it hissed, _he will not understand and therefore will not be satisfied. If he leaves here unsatisfied and a Ranger, then we fail our charge._

_Let me talk to him_, asked a hauntingly familiar voice from the flames.

The lizard that spoke first looked at the flames, cocking its head. _And what will you say?_

_Nothing you would not say yourself_ answered the voice from the fire.

The lizard nodded. _Is there anyone who objects?_ None of the animals answered. _Then let it be_, said the lizard.

The animals were gone.

Melissa was sitting across the fire from Andros. He stared at her.

"Melissa?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Oshra?"

She shook her head again. "I will tell you" she promised, "But first I must speak with you"

"It was you, who spoke from the fire"

"Yes", she confirmed. "Do you understand why you failed the second try, Andros?"

"No"

"Truth be told, it was not entirely by the rules", she admitted. "This is why I was allowed to speak with you, even that I am not your spirit guardian"

"You mean the one I spoke with before…

"Yes. Andros, why do you think that we agreed to test you? Because you may not be worthy of being a Ranger?"

He stared at her. "You mean this was not your reason?"

"No, it was not"

"I don't know, than"

"Think of the two tests you've been through so far. Take your time"

Andros set down. It must have been fifteen minutes, in the least, before he spoke again. "The first time, I failed flat out. The second time, you had to discuss it"

The Ninjetti spirit said nothing.

"It was because of the dagger", said Andros after another long while passed. "The second time, I used the dagger"

She nodded. "What does this tell you?" she asked.

He mulled it over shortly. "The end justifies the means?" he suggested.

"Do you believe that statement?"

"No", he admitted. "Not the answer?"

"Not the answer", she confirmed. "Care to try again?"

This time it took his even longer to think; the color withdrawal was really taking its tall on him, now.

"Not every end justifies any means", he said finally, "but the statement may be true in some cases"

"If I tell you that the usage of the dagger was not necessary for you to pass, but rather a hint you were granted, would it help you understand?"

"A hint?" he asked.

She smiled.

He frowned.

"Zhane was another hint", she added gently.

The frown deepened. "I was more willing to save Zhane's life than my own". His head shot up and he stared at her. "And you consider this a _bad_ thing?"

"The Crane did note that your heart is true", pointed the Ninjetti spirit in front of him. "Can you make the case for why most of us weren't satisfied with this?"

"No"

"What have you told Zhane, each time he risked his life to save yours?"

"That it's not worth it"

"What did he reply?"

"That to him, it is"

She cocked an eyebrow.

Andros sighed. "Okay, I see your point. His life means more to me than my own, just like my life means more to him than his. And your point it?"

Her eyebrow remained raised.

"I'll give you another hint", she said after a long while passed, and yet he said nothing. "Ashley"

"Ashley?"

"Yes"

He blinked, and tried to think through the haze. If he won't finish this quickly, he knew, he would fall unconscious. "It's the same with her as with Zhane, and - and it would be the same with the Karone, and with the rest of the Rangers" Was it his imagination, or was the spirit smiling slightly? "They would not want me to sacrifice myself for their protection, just as I wouldn't want them to sacrifice themselves for me. To be self-sacrificial… it's not exactly immoral, but it's certainly irresponsible". He groaned. "Oh man, I must have hurt them so much by leaving like that"

"If you were to survive this test, only without your powers", asked the spirit, watching him intently, "What would you do with your life?"

He almost answered _I don't know_ but though better of it. "If you would have asked me a few moments ago", he said, "I would either say dedicate myself to some other form of public service, or that I don't know. Now, though… well, I still don't know", he admitted, "But it's because I'd like to take a good long pause before making my mind"

She was truely smiling now. "Would you care to guess again why you did not pass?"

"One mistake", he said slowly, "Was that I valued my life _below_ other people's lives, while all lives carry the same value. The other mistake…" he paused. "I had to kill her, but not because she was evil - but because I had to keep myself alive first" He looked at the Ninjetti spirit sitting across from him. "You agreed to test me because I didn't value my own life", he said. "Because a Ranger who doesn't value their own lives are danger to their teams, and morally wrong"

She didn't have to tell him he was right; he knew it because his robes were red again.

"True", she said simply. "Would you now like me to tell you who I am?"

"Yes, if you will"

"I am the spirit of the Phoenix", she said, getting to her feet. Andros followed her. "I look like your cousin for the same reason that she looks like your common ancestor; there had to be at least two of them, you see…" And with that, she vanished.

The men in red appeared next to Andros.

"Don't you ever worry me like that ever again", he warned Andros, waving his finger in the Ranger's face. "Half the time I thought you were going to fail"

"Sorry", answered Andros sheepishly.

The man shook his head disgustedly, but his eyes were twinkling warmly. "I am the spirit of the red Salamander" he informed Andros, "As you ought to have guessed"

"And you're my spirit Guardian"

"Yes" Salamander studied Andros intently. "You know why?"

"No"

"Because Salamanders are creatures of fire, Andros. We posses it, but are not possessed _by_ it. Therefore, a Salamander will not fall to the flames of temptation; rather, we would emerge unscathed, sometimes even stronger and more powerful than we were before". This time, the spirit smiled with more than his eyes. "Does this answer the question with which you came to Dulcea?"

"Yes, it does", answered Andros honestly. Then, he smiled, a true and happy smile the like of which he haven't smiled since his first kiss with Ashley. "Thanks a lot, for everything"

The spirit put his hand to Andros forehead. "I'm always here for you", he said simply. "Now, walk into the fire, and go home. They are missing you" He vanished.

Andros stood there unmoving, for a minute longer, before he shook himself.

"Thank you" he whispered to the air, "To all of you"

And, without the slightest hint of hesitation, he walked into the heart of the fire.


	2. Family Ghosts

_Orbiting Eltar_

Cassie sat at the speeder's helm, humming quietly to herself as she made her way through the preflight checklists. She didn't expect anything to be out of order - after all, this was a brand new craft - but procedures were not meant to be ignored. Besides, after two years of risking her neck as a Power Ranger, Cassie enjoyed doing something the safe way, for a change.

Almost four months passed since the Rangers and their allies defeated the forces of Evil. Four months packed with so much activity that at times, Cassie found it hard to believe that the war was over.

First there were excuses to make: Cassie still felt that the methods they used to extinguish their parents' suspicions weren't worthy of celebrated heroes, but there really wasn't any other way, seeing as none of them had time to make proper excuses before that final leap into space. After that, it was orchestrating the rebuilding efforts of the different planets. Some worlds - like Aquitar and Triforia - handed more help than they needed. Others had it about even, but some worlds needed constant help simply to keep their population from starving. Such was the condition of the previously occupied planets, with which Cassie found herself most involved. During the final battle, she had helped free those planets, and now she found their fate - and the fate of the people she helped free - very dear to her heart. So for the last four months, Cassie coordinated humanitarian aid convoys whose tracks spread half across the galaxy, became a field expert in epidemiology, learned five or fifteen new languages and spent her entire weekends darting around in space, as the border area was far even by teleportation standards.

She put a tick in the last checkbox, and was just about to radio her takeoff request to the control station, when she heard a soft noise, very much like an incoming teleportation. She looked left - just to make sure - and was surprised to see Shiera standing by the airlock. She was more surprised - alarmed, even - when she noticed that Shiera's eyes were red, and a large backpack hung from one of her shoulders.

Cassie wasn't sure how long she stared. She'd never seen Shiera cry, and she hated to think what it must have took to make this proud girl hurt so much that her mask was shattered - not to mention the implications of that bag. After what seemed like forever, Cassie gathered her senses. She had no idea who or what Shiera was running from, but this was not the time, nor the place, to question her teammate.

"Stuff that bag somewhere", said Cassie, "And fasten yourself to a chair. Takeoff procedure"

Shiera nodded. Stepping inside the speeder, she tucked the bag into the nearest storage compartment, and set down, clicking the safety harness into place, not saying a word.

It didn't escape Cassie's eye that Shiera picked a passenger's seat, rather than a copilot's. It just made Cassie all the more worried. Normally, Shiera would choose the first pilot's position, as Cassie occupied the captain's. To pick a passenger's seat - that was so totally unlike Shiera, that Cassie had no words to describe it.

Tearing back her thoughts, Cassie fastened her own harness.

"Control, this is the Rosy Outlook", she said into the comm. "Requesting permission to clear dock"

"Hold on, Rosy Outlook" came the operator's voice.

"Copy" answered Cassie automatically, though she wondered what could cause the delay.

A few seconds later, though, she got an answer to her full satisfaction.

"Cassie!" said Ashley's voice happily through the comm. "I told them not to let you go before I talk to you"

Cassie felt a smile stretch across her face. "Abusing your authority, are you?"

"Just wishing you good luck" Ashley's cheerfulness was not abated even one bit. "You go, girl!"

"Thanks, Ash"

"Rosy Outlook, this is control. You are cleared to leave docks. You will follow path 8 out of the system before jumping to hyperdrive"

"Path 8, copied and confirmed. Firing impulse engines… now"

Carefully, Cassie piloted the speeder out of the system. Path 8 was a priority path, and soon enough, she was out of Eltaran space.

"Rosy Outlook, this is control. You are cleared to hyperjump"

"Copy, control"

"Good luck, pink Ranger"

"Thanks", said Cassie and took a deep breath. She shifted to hyperdrive, and the stars streaked around them.

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove, late evening_

He was driving himself nauseous with pacing. Ethan Karlson simply did not know what to do: his wife was upstairs in their room, trying to comfort Emma into sleep; Emma would not go to her own room, as it was adjacent to Shiera's. Amanda was with Emma for hours, now, but the poor girl was so hysterical that Ethan had begun to wonder if she'd fall asleep at all. He stopped in his tracks, sighed, passed his hand through his hair and, determinedly, walked over to the kitchen to prepare himself a cup of tea. He'd had enough of pacing.

He was just finished when the knock on the door came. Cup in hand, Ethan walked over to the door. Certain it would be a neighbor on the other side, he did not bother to peer through the peephole.

It was a mistake.

"Good evening, Mr. Karlson", said Carlos. "Is Shiera home?"

Ethan nearly dropped his cup. On the list of people he expected to find on his doorstep, Shiera's boyfriend ranked pretty low.

"Sorry for dropping in so late", apologized Carlos. "It's just that I had a hunch… Are you all right, Mr. Karlson? You seem a little pale"

"What? No, no, everything is all right. Come on in, Carlos. Shiera's upstairs in her room"

"Thanks" Carlos walked in, and was at Shiera's door within seconds.

Ethan waited at the bottom on the stairs, heart pounding. He tried knocking on Shiera's door several times, but she did not answer. Green Ranger or not, Ethan was getting worried.

Carlos knocked a third time. "Shiera?" he called. "It's me"

No answer.

Carlos turned around.

"Are you sure she's there?"

"Yes; she went upstairs a while ago, and I didn't see her coming down"

"Maybe she's asleep?"

"She's didn't go to the bathroom"

"Weird". Carefully, Carlos opened Shiera's door - and threw it open with a cry of "You promised!"

Ethan ran upstairs, too terrified to notice the disbelief or the heartbreak in Carlos' voice. He was terrified of what he might find in Shiera's room -

\- the room was empty, empty except for the furniture and for Carlos, standing in the middle of the room and staring wildly around.

"But she never came downstairs", said Ethan blankly. He walked over to the window. "It's locked. From the inside"

"What happened?" demanded Carlos.

"I don't understand…" said Ethan.

Carlos grabbed his wrist. Ethan jolted, as if he received an electrical shock.

"I felt something was wrong. Now I _know_ something is wrong. _What happened_?" The last two words were half-shouted.

Ethan opened his mouth to yell at the insolent boy - but changed his mind when he remembered: _I'm the current green Ranger_, she said; _Carlos is black_.

"She told us", he said. "She told us about… Emma asked her why she always wears green, and…" Ethan's voice broke.

Carlos let go of Ethan's wrist.

"Why'd she hide in her room?" asked Carlos. His voice was very quiet, but the expression on his face would have made anyone who knew him shudder.

"She told us… how she received her morpher. And…"

"You rejected her", said Carlos, his voice every bit as disbelieving as it was before. "She told you everything… and you rejected her"

"She fought for that Astronema witch!"

"You don't understand anything!"

"Ethan!"

Both men tore their eyes from one another - they were standing dangerously close - and looked at Amanda, who was standing framed in the doorway, with one of her arms wrapped protectively over Emma.

"What's going on here?" she demanded. "Where is Shiera?"

"Gone, thanks to you" shot Carlos. His voice was expressionless, and both Karlsons failed to notice the disgusted shock on his face.

"How did she disappear?" demanded Ethan. "And where?"

"She teleported, and lord knows where she is now" was Carlos' response. "Some loving family you are"

"How dare you…" began Amanda

"No, how dare _you_"

All of the sudden, the silence rang like a gong. Carlos had pulled himself to his full height, effectively towering over Ethan and Amanda. Physical menace alone was not what made the room so dark; dejected fury was coming off of Carlos in waves. Even Emma seemed to sense it, and she inched closer to her mother.

Moving was a mistake.

"She loves you so much, little one", said Carlos softly. "You are here now because she loves you; you're awake because she loves you; you could hurt her - you have hurt her - almost more than anyone else could; how will you live with yourself, now?" The softness crumbled as Carlos' face twisted, and he was glaring at Amanda and Ethan.

"I have nothing more you say", he told them, "Except that I hope you're happy with what you did"

Amanda and Emma jumped to the side as Carlos stormed outside the room, and then outside the house. The echoes from the slammed door died out, and still the three of them stood without moving, hardly daring to breath.

"I think", said Amanda, when the air became almost too thick to breathe, "That we should have heard her out"

* * *

_Orbiting Earth, the Astro Megaship, the bridge_

"Just wishing you good luck" said Ashley, grinning from ear to ear; she so hoped that Cassie could hear that! "You go, girl!"

"Thanks, Ash"

"Bye, Cassie" But the line was already rediverted, she could see it on the panel. "Thanks for the favor, Eltar Control"

"You're welcome, yellow Ranger", said the controller sincerely. "Eltar Control out"

Ashley sighed, stopped herself from chewing a perfectly polished fingernail and reached out for the mints instead. _Some crazy day_, she thought, popping three pellets in her mouth and making a face at the burning. _When did Cassie wake me up, anyway?_

"You should sleep, Ashley", said DECA.

"I know, DECA. I just need to wind down a little"

"You are awake since 04:30 in the morning"

"Really? Feels more like three"

"It was a long day", agreed DECA.

A black column of light materialized, and Ashley recoiled in surprise. Teleporting directly to the bridge was just not polite. _Even Carlos should have more sense than that_, she thought, and was about to tell him so - before she caught the expression on his face.

"Carlos?" she was there by his side almost before she finished saying his name; her eyes scanned him quickly - he was not injured or harmed in any way. _What…?_

"She's gone" Carlos' breathing was heavy; he was close to hyperventilating. "She's gone, Ashley! She told them, and…"

"Who's gone?" asked Ashley, more to quash her suspicion than to prove it.

"She's gone…"

She asked him again, and once more, but still he only repeated what he said before. Bracing herself, Ashley slapped him, hard. Luckily, it worked. He stared at her for a moment, and then: "Shiera told her family about being a Ranger. They didn't react well. She took off; I don't know where to; I don't why she told them, Ash, she was so afraid. But now it's done, and she's gone"

"Scans are negative", announced DECA.

Carlos made a noise halfway between laughter and a sob. "No help, DECA. She's teleported away. You won't find her"

Ashley's heart sank. Shiera's teleportation was independent of the Megaship's systems, which made tracking her teleportation signal virtually impossible. Ashley cringed inwardly at the thought of the troubles an isolated Ranger could get into - especially one who was as tempting a target as Shiera.

There were more immediate worries, though, and Ashley pushed thoughts of Shiera momentarily away. "DECA, please wake up T.J and inform him of the situation"

"Complying"

With that out of the way, Ashley wrapped her arms around Carlos' shoulders, and held him until he cried.

* * *

_Hyperspace_

"How long is it to Matika?" asked Shiera after what seemed like ages of silence.

Cassie glanced at her watch; it'd only been fifteen minutes. "Some four hours, at maximal speed"

Shiera whistled. "That's not a bad speed. The Megaship wouldn't make it faster"

Cassie smiled. "What is it with you and negative terms?"

"Sorry?"

"You said 'not a bad speed' ", explained Cassie. " 'Not bad', rather than 'good' "

"I see", said Shiera. After a couple of seconds, she added: "I'd rather think that I have a tendency for understatement"

"Any idea why?"

"Why should you care?"

"Just making conversation", pointed Cassie. "There's not much weather for us to discuss"

"You're not just making conversation", said Shiera, wincing. "And I should have been smarter than that"

"Oh?"

"You do care; and I shouldn't have questioned". She looked away. "It's something I just can't seem to get used to"

"I don't think so", said Cassie quietly.

Shiera was still not looking at her. "What do you think?"

"That you're still afraid of hope"

"Sounds like a stupid fear to me"

"I said 'still' " said Cassie. "It means I don't think you'll be afraid for ever". Were it any other person in front of her, Cassie would have reached out to offer physical comfort - but this was Shiera.

"They say, new layers of positive experience heal away the scars of bad experience. What if I won't let myself acquire those new layers?"

"You do acquire them, even by sitting here". Cassie has had enough. She held Shiera by the shoulder and made the other girl look at her. Her voice was like her touch - soft and firm: "What's wrong, Shiera?"

Shiera still wouldn't meet her eyes. "Some things don't go away"

Cassie cursed, taking her hand off Shiera's shoulder. "Not that again, Shiera! I thought we cured you of this nonsense!"

Shiera's hands balled into fists, her nails digging into her palms. "You don't understand, Cassie! I'll remain this way for the rest of my life!"

"What's 'this way'?" demanded Cassie, "Redeemed, with a loving boyfriend and as loyal friends as can be?"

"It means", said Shiera, shaking, "Not only able to remember being Evil, and remember feeling okay that way, but also being able to _be_ Evil again - if I only choose to, or if I don't pay attention; and not paying attention is a very easy mistake to make"

Cassie stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"Certain". The shakes lessened, but Shiera's hands were still clenched. "That's what it means to be a Rainbow Walker. I'm both Good _and_ Evil - for as long as I am"

Cassie spotted the loophole in Shiera's logic right away. "If you can't turn purely good, surely you can't turn purely evil?"

"Not for long", said Shiera quietly, her eyes closing as if in pain, "but for too long"

Cassie only watched as Shiera took one deep breath after another, eyes still closed.

"Does Carlos know?" asked Cassie finally.

Shiera nodded. "He does"

"And?"

Shiera shrugged. "He doesn't seem to have a problem with it" Shiera's dubious tone clearly implied that she didn't understand Carlos at all.

"Probably said he loved you as you are, if I know him at all" said Cassie, almost snorting; she could just _see_ Carlos' expression as told Shiera that. "And Karone?"

"She explained it to me. She doesn't seem to think it's a problem, either", added Shiera before Cassie had the chance to ask.

"I'd say that if they're okay with it, you should too, but…" Cassie shook her head. "Sweet Lord, Shiera, I've know idea what it's like to be inside your head"

"Cold", said Shiera immediately. "Cold enough to freeze your bones out. Stars don't give much heat"

"Stars?"

"They stand for hope, don't they? But they can't light away the darkness, and they're too far to touch" With those last words, Shiera finally opened her eyes. "Stars are actually quite sad, when you come to think about it"

"Guess they are", murmured Cassie. "Never thought of them this way". She leaned forward and hugged Shiera. While Shiera didn't stiffen or resist - as Cassie was afraid she'd do - she didn't relax, either.

"I talk too much", she muttered into Cassie's shoulder.

"You don't talk enough, if at all", said Cassie. "You should have told us ages ago"

"You think it's so easy?"

"No", admitted Cassie. "I think you're that strong"

"Thanks", said Shiera. "I guess".

* * *

It was hours later, and Cassie was in her room. She'd been going through her research files again, and now the data pad lay on her knees as she set on the window perch, staring into space.

He first appeared about half a year after she, TJ and the others became Rangers. Rygog and Elgar had tried to rob a bank. He chased them away before the Turbo Rangers even arrived at the spot. It was Cassie was spotted his semi-transparent form walking away. Later that day, He again won a fight before they could even get there. The team split, looking for Him. Cassie caught His reflection in a truck's mirror, but when she walked around she could not see Him. Then He became semi-transparent for a minute, only long enough to let her touch Him and tell her he was a friend, before turning invisible and walking off.

It was when she stood there, shouting at his disappearing back, that she realized her life changed, perhaps as dramatically as it did when she became a Ranger.

Cassie Chan fell in love.

She couldn't quite explain it to anyone, but something in her moved when she first saw Him, and that something yielded completely when she first touched Him. It was as if a great door opened within her soul, pouring forth a wealth of emotion pragmatic Cassie never knew she was capable of. Even stranger than that, she never doubted, even for a second, that He felt the same way for her, too.

Her team's further contact with Him only seemed to strengthen her certainty. He always seemed a little more protective over her, more likely to appear when she was in danger than any of the others. And, when Havoc needed a bait to capture Him, it was Cassie whom the villain had kidnapped.

Cassie shivered, and tightened the quilt around her as she remembered that time, when she thought that He was dying - worse, that He was dying because of her. She remembered the panic she felt as she and TJ searched for Him, and the even worse dread when she saw Him slumped, unconscious, next to the wall. She remembered how she fought to keep her hands stable as she put his ruby back in place, and those nerve-wrenching seconds until the ruby glowed, and the tidal of relief when the ruby finally glowed and she knew He'd live.

He told them - her - then that he went wherever he was needed, for as long as he was needed, but Cassie's research showed that this wasn't exactly true. While He helped many planets, He rarely returned to the same planet more than one or twice - and yet, He helped Cassie's team repeatedly. If she had any doubts that He cared for her, they were wiped away by the message He left for her on Hercuron: "I'll be all right, Cassie. Please... don't forget me".

"How could I ever forget you?" she whispered.

Hercuron was the last she'd seen Him until the great battle, when she and He fought side-by-side to free the occupied planets. They spoke very little, as the battle was intense, but every word exchanged carried so much intention that at times she found it hard to concentrate on the fighting.

And still He disappeared when the war was over: that's when Cassie's quest began.

She researched logs and chronicles, questioned people and traveled across the known universe, collecting every piece of information that existed on the one known as the Phantom.

He first appeared in the border area, shortly after it had been conquered. For a while, He tried to free the border worlds on His own, but after a while He moved inward to a still-free territory, and began helping planetary defense forces against the rising Evil. He never seemed to visit a certain world more than once or twice before moving on, usually to a totally different sector. To Cassie, it seemed that He did not want to get attached. Her fingers fidgeted as she wondered why was that.

In the months that followed His first visit to Earth, though, He never seemed far from Cassie's home planet, and there were plenty of sighting to testify for that: many more sightings, in fact, than in any other period of His "career". It was, Cassie thought, as if He had more energy, more motivation, than He had at other times.

She wondered if it was because He was in love.

Then came Zordon's kidnapping and, for Cassie, the shift from Turbo to Astro power, with her team composition changing as well. It was shortly after that that the fateful day at Hercuron happened - the last Cassie would see Him for almost a year, and His one and only open admittance of feeling for Her, that one message: "Please... don't forget me"

In the many and long months that followed, Cassie has seen neither hide nor hair of Him. Strangely, though, she was not worried. She felt certain that, should anything happen to Him, she would feel it. There were times, of course, that a feeling of panic, of being encaged, rose within her; but mostly, she - and following her logic, He too - was well.

It was a hunch that made her continue with the Bookallan fleet, rather than join her team. After all, she didn't know at the time about His affinity with the conquered planets. How great was her joy, then, when she found Him there, too! They were allowed only a short time together, but the few sentences they exchanged were enough for Cassie:

"_Phantom!"_

"_Cassie. I… remembered"_

"_I missed you, too"_

"_Will you be careful?"_

"_Only if you promise to be careful, too"_

He wanted them to split, claiming that they'd cover more ground this way, but she wanted them to fight together, saying they'd be stronger together; that this was the Rangers' way; and that she wanted them to. It was hard to tell which of her arguments did the trick, but He yielded to her wish, and they fought together all throughout the long battle.

Or rather, almost all throughout: she lost sight of Him so very close to the end. The swarm of putties and cogs became too intense, and they were separated. She could not even scream for Him or shout the name He used, because she was out of breath. Seconds later, the many drones faded into dust or fell to the ground. For a split second Cassie was stunned, and then, realizing that the others must have won, she started calling for Him, running around and searching, looking. But He was nowhere, and neither was his body. The Phantom had disappeared again.

He hasn't been sighted since. All of Cassie's research seemed futile: she knew all there was to know about His past, but of his present - nothing. She searched the data again and again, looking for any hints she might have missed: still, nothing.

Until less then a day ago, when a large meteor penetrated Matika's atmosphere. Matika's space defense array was virtually nonexistence, and the planet was simply too far out for help to reach it on time. The meteor was only a few kilometers above ground when the Phantom's ship materialized next to it, taking it out with a few well-aimed shots.

Luckily, it was already summer vacation. Cassie packed her bag and told her parents she was going camping with some friends. TJ picked her up from her house for story's sake, but as soon as they turned around the corner Cassie teleported to the ship, where she got on her glider and headed to Eltar. Going through the wormhole on the glider was something she never wished to do again, but it was fastest. Once in Eltaran space, she did not even lend, but was directed straight to the speeder waiting for her in orbit: the Eltarans, curious about the Phantom more than anyone save Cassie, agreed beforehand to land her the craft should she need it.

It was 1 a.m., California time, when Cassie received the news of the sighting; 9 a.m. before she was finally to get away from the house; 1 p.m. when she finally arrived on Eltar; and after 6 p.m. when she finally fired the engines and streaked into hyperspace. Cassie had had lots of hard-packed action in the last two years, but those fifteen hours, coupled with her anxiety, had been enough for her. Even as she wondered which of the streaking stars she was looking at was his home, her head fell on her shoulder, and she slept.

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove, night_

It was getting late. The TV was on, but Ethan and Amanda Karlson weren't watching.

The phone rang, and Amanda picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Karlson?"

"Yes, speaking"

"Mrs. Karlson, it's T.J Johnson. I'm a… teammate of Shiera's"

Amanda straightened so fast she nearly displaced Ethan on the couch. "T.J… yes, I remember you. You say you're a Ranger too? Do you know where she is?"

At the mention of the word 'Ranger', Ethan straightened up too, suddenly staring at his wife.

"Please, Mrs. Karlson, slow down. If you don't mind, I would like to come over to your house and see if I can explain things. It seems that there were several misunderstanding"

Amanda's heart was racing. "Hold on a second". Covering the phone's speaker with her palm, she quietly told Ethan: "He wants to come over; talk about things"

"Well, let him come, then!" said Ethan. "It's about time they contacted us!"

Biting her lip, Amanda removed her hand from the speaker and told T.J: "You can come"

"Thank you. I will be there in a few minutes"

Amanda put down the phone.

"Well?"

"He will be here soon"

"Which one of them is TJ? The guy with the stripes in his hair? No, his name is Andros. TJ's the African-American one"

"Yes", said Amanda. "Try to talk more slowly, please, Ethan?"

"Sorry"

The doorbell rang. They got up together.

"Thank you. Sorry for the late hour" said TJ, stepping inside without an invitation. "I would've teleported directly, but teleportation can be attention-catching at night. I also thought it may be a little of a shock to you…"

The Karlsons were staring at him.

TJ sighed. "Can we sit down, please?" he asked. "It's going to be a long one"

"Do you know where she is?" asked Amanda as soon as they sat - she and Ethan on the couch, TJ on the chair facing them.

"No", said TJ. "Tracking her is impossible. Saying this is probably useless, but - you don't have to worry about her. She's more than tough, and she's got a reputation: anything stupid enough to mess with her is not a threat"

"Then why are you here?" asked Ethan.

"To explain things", said TJ. "I don't think you've heard the whole story"

"At least you're behaving", said Amanda, almost without thinking. "When Carlos was here before…"

"Carlos is every bit as worried about Shiera as you are", said TJ. "And he already came close to losing her in the past"

"He's only known her for a couple of months" said Amanda contemptuously.

Something flashed across TJ's face that made Ethan put a protective arm around his wife.

"Will you hear the full story before you make an opinion?" asked TJ.

"We already know the full story", said Ethan.

"No, you don't" said TJ evenly.

"Yes, we do. Shiera told us. She admitted that she fought for Astronema"

"Shiera was _kidnapped_ by Astronema and _enspelled_ to serve her". TJ looked at the Karlson's stunned expressions and continued without a pause, his face hard and set: "Astronema, like any other villain who ever fought against a team of Rangers, realized that the best way to conquer the Rangers would be to break them - or one of them. Astronema aimed for Carlos. She found Shiera because Shiera was close to Carlos. Having realized that Shiera is one hell of a fighter, she decided to make Shiera a weapon against us. She kidnapped Shiera and put her under a complex array of spells to ensure Shiera's loyalty. Carlos managed to break through the spells. Shiera changed sides, and has been fighting with us ever since. So there; now you know"

Amanda began to sob.

* * *

_Netherie, the Golden Guard's main camp, about noon_

Hurán stepped outside the tent, glaring at the tainted sky. It was autumn at this part of the planet, yet it was midday, and the sky should've been brighter than that - except for the pollution: the pollution that made Netherie uninhabitable for most.

The purple flash came after mere seconds. Hurán stepped forward to greet Karone, frowning and smiling just the same: it was always good to see her - it didn't happen nearly enough, what with the girl's darting through space - but he was worried about her; not for the first time, Hurán dearly wished to teach Andros of Kerova some manners - preferably by the means of a sharp blade.

"How are you handling?" he asked, as soon as the purple glow faded from around her.

"Trying to not worry too much", said Karone. "It's a long trip to Phaedos, and Dulcea is not always easy to find. It's perfectly understandable that he hasn't made contact yet"

_Either that, or he's dead_, thought Hurán. Aloud, he said: "He's been a Ranger for years; from what you told me, I doubt this Dulcea person would even agree to test him"

"Maybe" shrugged Karone, "That's not what you called me here for, isn't it?"

"No. Come on inside, I'll show you"

"As you probably know, Andros and Zhane captured Divatox last night", he said, pulling over the tent's flapping.

"So I heard. Was she troublesome as usual?"

"Not more than I remembered" said Hurán dryly. "As standard procedure, I ran her through a minimal medical scan, to ensure that she is not injured. The results of her blood screen". He offered Karone a data pad.

Karone frowned. "There's no way she can be Fumara, with these plasma components", she said.

"My thoughts exactly. Apparently, Divatox is Inquirian"

"That raises two question. One is how Mamma Tox came to raise an Inquirian child - I don't see her adopting, as she's hardly the maternal type. The other question is the identity of Divatox's biological family". Karone raised her eyes from the pad. "I don't recall the Inquirians having a planetary gene bank"

"That's because they don't have one"

"So both questions are unanswerable"

"No necessarily" said Hurán darkly. "May I?"

Karone returned him the pad. With a few strokes, he brought up a picture and returned the pad to Karone. "Divatox's photo, sans mask and make up"

Karone's pupils widened. "Seems that we have a diplomatic crisis"

"That, princess, is the understatement of a lifetime"

* * *

_Orbiting Earth, geostationary orbit above Angel Grove, night_

Karone's expression, as she entered the bridge, was anything but inviting.

"You said you have more bad news?" she asked.

"Shiera" said Ashley shortly.

"I might as well have known" Karone crashed into a chair and buried her face in her hands. "What has she done this time?"

"Disappeared"

Karone's head snapped up.

"She told her parents and it got messed up. TJ is down there right now, trying to straighten things up"

"Carlos?"

"Not channeling her"

Karone scowled. "Thank the Light for small miracles", muttered Karone darkly. "Zhane told you?"

"No". Ashley's face tightened with sudden worry. "He didn't have to; Andros sent me a recording". She blinked, but it didn't make the tears go away. "Stupid jerk. How can he think he's not good enough?"

"I can understand him", said Karone softly. "If not for this - " Karone's hand traveled to her crystal " - I would have felt the same. He doesn't have the same reassurance"

"Aren't you worried about him?"

"If he comes back alive, I'm killing him. If he dies, I'm going to resurrect and then kill him. How's that for an answer?"

Ashley shook her head. "Can you locate Shiera?"

"Only if she wants to be found". She paused. "No, I can't sense her at all". She pushed herself up from the chair. "DECA, where's Carlos?"

"Carlos is in the park"

"I'll get him", said Ashley, getting up as well. "You know what he's like. You go down there and he'll take it all out on you"

"As if it'll be any different with you"

Ashley shrugged. "We've known each other longer", she said simply. "And I'm more patient than you are"

"I'm patient!"

"Not with emotional people, and not when you're worried through the roof", said Ashley shortly.

"When did you get to know me so well?"

"I know Andros, and you're just the same when you're stressed"

Karone smiled tiredly. "Thanks"

Ashley shook her head. "We're family, Karone; stop thanking me all the time"

"Th…" Karone stopped, and instead said: "I'll see if I can locate Shiera. You go get him"

Ashley nodded and raised her morpher hand. "She you in a few", she said, and was gone in a shower of yellow sparks.

* * *

_Hyperspace_

"Morning" said Shiera distractedly as Cassie wondered into the bridge. "Coffee?"

"Thanks" answered Cassie, dropping into a chair and reaching for the offered mug.

"You're welcome"

Cassie took a sip from her coffee. "Slept well?"

"I didn't sleep"

"What?" Cassie's head jerked up. "Shiera, you must be awake…"

"…Only sixteen hours" completed Shiera. "I got up at a relatively normal hour - not barely after midnight"

"Right"

"You need more coffee"

"Probably", growled Cassie. "I hate time differences"

"What time is it, where we're heading?"

"Should be about eleven, when we get there; in the morning, I mean"

"Twelve hours from home?"

"Just about"

Without warning, the engines' sound changed, and the streaks turned into stars.

"We're there", said Cassie abruptly.

* * *

_Matika, Tsanit subcontinent, late morning_

"Sorry, come again?" asked Cassie; Shiera has asked something, but Cassie was too focused on landing the craft.

"I said, what's this guy's name"

"Than ranch is owned by Kenshin Az Atare"

"And we're going to address him as…"

"Kenshin, probably. Mainstream Matikan culture considers using one's surname derogatory. Kinda unusual, but that's how the system here works"

"Does he know you're coming?"

"No, I don't think so. What?" demanded Cassie as Shiera's lips quirked.

"Guy's in for a shock. A Ranger landing in his back yard?"

"The Phantom Ranger was spotted over his ranch. He must except some attention"

"Point taken"

The last sentences were exchanged even as the speeder touched ground. Now, the two Rangers set in the immobile craft.

"After you", said Shiera finally.

* * *

"Isn't it a little… dusty, for a farm?" asked Shiera as they stepped outside. "I thought there'd be more green stuff"

"I suppose the fields are farther away", said Cassie. "Besides, this area has almost continental climate. Near desert conditions", explained Cassie, seeing the blank look on Shiera's face. "It means low, shrubby kind of plant life"

"You could just say prairie"

It was a ten-minute walk before the farmhouse came into view. As they came closer, a girl sitting at a workbench by the front door raised her head and looked at them. She ran down to the gate, looked at the two approaching Rangers, then ran up to the house and disappeared inside.

Cassie and Shiera exchanged glances, but said nothing.

She came outside after a moment, accompanied by a man. The man nodded, and pushed her gently back to her table. She sat down, and he walked down the path. He was of medium height, and heavily built, like a men who had much use for his muscles. His skin was dark, perhaps tanned, with black pudding-bowl hair. The clothes he wore were unmistakingley work clothes by their cut, the pants a muddy shade of brown and the sleeveless shirt a pale beige.

"He's Ukkari", said Cassie abruptly. "One of the peoples of Ashtar"

"Population exchange?"

Cassie shrugged. "They were all refugees together. Some friendships must have stuck"

The man reached the gate at about the same time as they did.

"Greetings" he said, inclining his head without breaking eye contact. "I am Anarad Ranoor". He had an almost musical accent, with throaty, rolling R's and long A's.

"Greetings" answered Cassie, inclining her head slightly lower. "I am Cassie Chan"

"Greetings", said Shiera, following Cassie's example. "I am Shiera Karlson"

"Your name is familiar to me", said Anarad, addressing Cassie. "Are you not Ranger Cassie, who helped free this world, as well as others?"

"I am", said Cassie.

"Than your presence here is even a greater honor than I first assumed", said Anarad, opening the gate and curtseying them inside. "What brings you to this modest house?"

"I'm looking for the Phantom Ranger", said Cassie simply, as she and Shiera entered the yard. "I've heard that his ship has been sighted over your land only yesterday"

"Ah, you shall have to wait for Kenshin than. He was the one who was there. He will return in time for lunch. You are welcome to stay"

"We will be honored", said Cassie.

They've reached the front door. The girl raised her eyes from the instrument she was tinkering with. She was a fragile looking thing, thin-bodied, pale-skinned, and with large - almost too large - amber eyes. Her clothes were styled like Anarad's, save that her tonic was v-necked and lovingly embroidered with colorful patterns. Her fingers, like her arms, were extremely long and delicate, and each finger had three knuckles instead of the standard humanoid two. The girl looked at them, and said nothing.

"This is Aaji", said Anarad.

"Is she mute?" asked Shiera bluntly, causing Cassie to flinch uncomfortably.

"In a matter of speaking", said Anarad evenly.

The look Cassie gave Shiera was sharp enough to cut steel, but Shiera didn't even flinch.

Anarad smiled. "Don't apologize for you companion's directness" he told Cassie. "I prefer honesty to manners. Please, Come inside" he added, gesturing towards the open door. "Make yourself comfortable. Kenshin is out in town, and will not return before noon"

The inside was flooded with light; light flowed in from the open front door, from the great French doors facing it, and from the large kitchen window. The kitchen was to the left, separated from the main space by a suspended glass counter. All the furniture were made of light-colored wood, and the rugs were the same color as the prairie soil outside.

"It's beautiful", whispered Cassie.

"You must have seen greater wonders", said Anarad with a shrug; then he laughed and shook his head. "All this Matikan formality is finally getting to me, it seems", he said. "Kenshin would make fun of me - if he had any sense of humor"

"Matikans do seem to be lacking in that aspect, don't they?" said Cassie, amused.

"What's burning?" asked Shiera sharply.

Anarad ran over to the kitchen area. "The soup!"

Cassie laughed as Anarad scolded the large pot in rapid Ukkarijhit, as if it was a child.

Shiera's eyes darted between Cassie and the door; sighing, Cassie nodded, and Shiera slipped outside.

"You're not going to force it back to the pot by scolding it" she told Anarad in Ukkarijhit as she stepped into the kitchen.

Surprised, Anarad dropped the spoon into the pot, splashing soup around.

Giggling, Cassie offered him a rag.

"Thank you", said Anarad, cleaning the mess. "When did you learn my mother tongue?"

"I've been spending a lot of time in this area of space lately; languages came in handy. Sorry I surprised you"

"It's okay. Actually, it's quite nice to have someone to speak the language to"

"And I could certainly use some practice" said Cassie.

"You're not _that_ bad", said Anarad. He tossed the rag in the sink, landing a perfect shot. "I always forget I have something on the stove"

"And Rahji soup is a tricky dish" said Cassie. "Don't you have a soup timer?"

"There used to be one lying around, but I don't seem to find it"

Cassie looked around at the bare surroundings; it seemed too orderly for anything to be misplaced.

"Aaji must have confiscated it for parts" continued Anarad, perhaps following Cassie's train of thought. "She always does that"

Cassie hesitated, then said: "She's Lehroin"

Anarad only shrugged.

"Is she…?"

Anarad nodded curtly.

"Sorry; didn't mean to pry" said Cassie.

"It's alright", said Anarad, though the lingering stiffness in his shoulders said otherwise. "Surely you understand why the subject is… sensitive"

"I've been to Lehroi", she told him. "Yes, I understand" She smiled suddenly, mind set on changing the subject. "How do you manage to find the ingredients for the soup? I didn't know you could get some of this stuff on Matika!"

Anarad smiled back, apparently accepting her diversion, and began to lecture: "Well, you see…"

* * *

Outside, Shiera was half mindedly watching Aaji at her work. The foreign girl was fixing what seemed to be a generator, her long fingers managing the small parts with ease and precision.

_Kind of like the prairie_, thought Shiera. _Both are so tranquil_. Even as she thought that, though, Shiera knew that it wasn't true: the land still bore signs of occupation - Shiera had seen enough on the short walk from the landing pad - and Aaji's body language was short and clipped, and she kept glancing around like a stressed rabbit.

_Both scarred_, thought Shiera, and in a corner of her mind she hardly admitted, she added: _the three of us, really_. Without meaning to, she picked and handed Aaji the tool the girl seemed to need. Aaji reached for it - and looked up in surprised. For a moment, she and Shiera only looked at each other. Then Shiera put the welder in Aaji's palm, and Aaji nodded before returning to her work.

Hesitantly, Shiera smiled.

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove park, night_

There were footsteps approaching behind him. "Go away, Zhane"

"I'm not Zhane"

"Ashley?" Carlos turned his head in surprise. Sure enough, it was Ashley standing behind him, head cocked to the side and smiling tiredly.

"You sound surprised" She plopped down on the grass beside him without waiting for invitation. "Disappointed?"

"I'd rather be left alone, thanks"

"Fat chance" said Ashley, forcing cheerfulness into her voice that she didn't feel.

"Go away, Ashley"

She didn't move.

"I mean it"

"Nope"

"Ash… I don't want to fight with you"

"So don't"

Finally, he looked at her. "If I get up and leave you'll just follow me, won't you?"

"That's right"

He scowled.

"I'm not leaving you alone, Carlos", said Ashley firmly. "Staying alone is the worst thing for you right now, even if you're loath to admit it"

He sighed. "Being alone is easier"

"Since when does 'easy' equate 'right'?" Ashley made a face. "Ugh, I've so had an overdose of politics"

"No, you've just been around Andros too much"

"Show me a red Ranger who is _not_ a borne politician"

"Uh…" Carlos hesitated a few moments, then shook his head. "Can't think of any"

"I brought some photos, if you want to see" She held out the bag.

"What photos?"

"Copies I made for Shiera, from Prom night". Carlos' expression closed up when she said Shiera's name, but his eyes betrayed everything. Ashley, who was close to tears for hours now, had to blink rapidly. "I think she wanted to arrange them in an album or something, but tonight is kind of a special occasion"

"Didn't she yell at you for taking some of these?"

"She did", agreed Ashley. Shiera had nearly _murdered_ her for some of these.

Carlos picked the bag from her hand and took out the photos.

"Want the story behind the photos?" asked Ashley quietly, seeing as Carlos frowned at the first photo; it was one from the set taken at Cassie's house.

_Shiera, standing in front of a full-length mirror, surveying herself dubiously.  
_"_Do you think I'm too skinny?"  
_"_Some girls would kill for that figure", said Cassie. She was sitting on the bed, filing her nails distractedly.  
_"_You're thinner than the girls Carlos dated in the past" offered Ashley, "But then again, you're nothing like any girl Carlos ever dated, so that's hardly a base for comparison. Why're you asking?"  
_"_Because I gained some weight, recently". Shiera pinched her waist thoughtfully. "And I'm not eating more than I used to"  
_"_So?"  
_"_You know Carlos and I are symbiotic, don't you? We affect each other. So I thought, maybe if Carlos thinks I'm too thin…"  
__Cassie rolled her eyes. "How insecure can you be, girl?"_

"She did _not_ say that"  
"She did. Do you think she's too skinny?"  
"Does it matter?"

_A pair of "before and after" close-up shots.  
_"_I'm not wearing make-up, Cassie"  
_"_Why not?"  
_"_Because I never did"  
_"_You also never went to a school dance before", pointed Ashley from behind.  
_"_Don't remind me" shot Shiera. "I think I'm going to be sick"  
_"_It's just a dance, Shiera"  
_"_Which means crowd and noise, and I hate both"  
_"_Feel like backing off?"  
_"_Hell yeah, but I can't". Shiera made a face. "Mascara only", she warned Cassie. "Wearing this skimpy thing", she pulled at her dress, "is weird enough for me"  
_"_Sure", promised Cassie. Ashley giggled as she saw that Cassie had her fingers crossed behind her back._

"How _did_ Cassie talk her into that?"  
"She didn't. All she had to do was smile"

_A shot from behind of Shiera, fully dressed, peering outside the door of Cassie's room; then a medium-shot of Shiera pointing a knife at someone, the laughter in her eyes ruining the otherwise murderous expression.  
_"_Will they get here already?" muttered Shiera. "Ashley, will you stop that?"  
_"_But it's a really great shot!"  
__Shiera turned around, and suddenly she had her dagger in her hand. Cassie nearly fell of her chair. "Stop shooting photos or I'll shoot you for real", warned Shiera.  
_"_How'd you do that?" demanded Cassie.  
__Shiera smiled suddenly. "It's a gift"  
__**Flash.  
**_"_Ashley!"_

"That was actually scary. None of _us_ can pull out our weapons when not morphed"  
"Shiera's a case to herself"  
"What's new?"

_A shot from behind: Carlos pushing the doors open, glancing behind, as Shiera is hurrying outside, fastening a shawl around her shoulders against the evening chill._

"What'd you take that for?"

"You're looking so romantic together"

Carlos shook his head. "Twenty minutes and she had to get out. Maybe I shouldn't have forced her to come"

"You didn't force her, Carlos. No one can force that girl to do anything"

"She still hated every minute of it"

"Not every minute. Turn to the next photo"

Carlos looked at Ashley suspiciously, then did as she asked. "Oh, I remember that. Man, Ashley, that was annoying. Couldn't we have at least a little privacy?"

"At a school dance? Well, maybe I did cross the line a bit, but it's a great photo"

"Yes, it is", he admitted. "It looks like something out of a movie"

"Only better, because you really love each other"

Carlos looked away. "She promised", he said quietly. "The day she came back, the first time around, she promised she wouldn't leave like that ever again"

"Carlos…"

"I'm not angry with her, if that's what you think. It's just - it hurts to know that when she really needed someone, she ran off instead of coming to me"

"Give her time, Carlos. She doesn't know how to rely on people. It's a skill that takes time to learn". Ashley smiled sadly. "Believe me, I know"

"What did Andros do this time?"

"Ran off on a quest, to prove that he's worthy of being a Ranger. At least I got a _recording_. Zhane and Karone only got a letter"

"Ouch"

"You can say that again"

"Ouch"

"Yeah"

Minutes passed in silence.

"Thanks, Ash. For everything"

"That's what friends are for, Carlos. I'm not letting you down again"

"That's water under the bridge, now, and it wasn't completely your fault anyway. Besides, that's how I met Shiera"

"Wouldn't you rather think that you were meant to be?"

"I'll get back to you on that"

"Speaking of getting back, how about we go back to the ship?"

"I don't know"

"Maybe Karone has some answers", said Ashley pointedly.

"You won't leave me until I agree, will you?"

"I'm not leaving you anyway"

"So we might as well stay here"

"Carlos!"

"Kidding, Ash"

"Jerk"

* * *

_Matika, Atare's ranch, around midday_

"You did not!" said Cassie, amused. "It must have burnt the poor guy's throat!"

"But of course, that was the purpose" said Anarad. "Surely you didn't expect me to let such an insult pass unanswered"

"Men", said Cassie, shaking her head. "You and your honour"

"Refreshing", remarked Anarad, "To hear this remark directed to my gender, rather than my culture"

"I've seen worse", said Cassie shortly. "Let me tell you about that Nanazeean lawyer…"

The soup having been rescued, Cassie and Anarad retired to the back porch with two tall glasses of juice and large bowl of salad. Anarad was a great conversationalist, and seemed to have traveled a lot during the war, and he and Cassie had a great time exchanging stories and observations of the cultures and places they've seen; for such a nice guy, Cassie noticed, Anarad had a wicked sense of humor.

"No more than can be expected of a lawyer of any kind, if you ask me", he said as Cassie finished her tale. "But the Nanazeeans do have a gift for hard-headedness that surpasses that of any other species, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah" agreed Cassie fervently. "But having to deal with them improved the Blue Centurions' programming immensely"

"Depends on what you call improving" said Anarad wryly.

"Ah well"

_Thud_.

Anarad and Cassie didn't even have time to exchange glanced when someone screamed; the scream lasted only a split second, but Cassie knew it was real because Anarad leaped from his chair just as she did.

"_Aaji_", he breathed sharply.

They ran into the house and to the front porch. Shiera was lying on the floor, unconscious and shaking violently, as Aaji tried to hold her down.

Cassie's heart beat fit to explode.

"We have a medical unit downstairs", said Anarad as he picked Shiera up. "Does she suffer any illnesses?"

"No, she's completely healthy", said Cassie, following him hurriedly; Aaji ran before them. "She's a Ranger"

"She's what?" asked Anarad. "But…"

"She's not Astro", said Cassie shortly.

The medical unit downstairs was impressive - not a big surprise, considering what Cassie guessed of Aaji's condition.

Aaji pressed the blood scanner to Shiera's arm almost before Anarad put her down on the medical bed. The results flashed on the screen within seconds.

"When did she last eat?"

Hypoglycemia was a classic Ranger symptom, and Shiera was definitely irresponsible enough to forget to eat, especially considering how stressed she was, but… "Her blood sugar isn't that low"

Aaji finished fastening the last sensors into place; two more screens lit up. Cassie stared at the data - Shiera's vitals had gone completely haywire, and Cassie had no idea what to make of it.

Anarad cursed. "I thought you said she doesn't have any conditions!"

"She doesn't!"

"That's neural hypercharge, Cassie! No healthy person gets that!" Anarad pushed himself angrily from the panel and changed a workstation. "I'll see if I can adapt some of Aaji's medications for her - I hope human and lehroin biochemistry is similar enough - but you'd better tell me what you know. No healthy person gets neural hypercharge out of the blue, especially not Rangers"

Something about the way he said that bothered Cassie, but now was not the time to think about it. "But she _is_ completely healthy", she insisted. "Between Alpha and Andros, the whole lot of us gets scanned every week, so I know"

"Well, something's wrong with her" shot Anarad. He was working through molecular tables almost too fast for Cassie to follow. "If she dropped like that with no warning!"

_Hypercharge_. Suddenly, things clicked in Cassie's head. "Damnit, she really does have hypercharge"

"That's what…"

"No, I mean systematic hypercharge. She's accessing more power than her body can take"

"But that's not supposed to happen. The morphers…"

"…are proofed against it, but Shiera's a Willer"

"What's that?"

"It means she doesn't depend on her morpher for power", said Cassie shortly. She was trying hard to think - she didn't know much about Shiera's abilities and how they worked, but she did know that Shiera nearly died from hypercharge at least once.

Anarad set up an IV. "I think I can stabilize her", he said, "But that's all. Is there someone who'll know what to do with her?"

Cassie nodded blankly. "Karone should - I'll have to walk back to the yacht and call her - "

Anarad nodded, and was about to say something, when they heard a door open and close upstairs.

"Anarad?" called a man's voice. "You're burning lunch again!"

Anarad swallowed. "Downstairs, Kenshin!" he called. "We have guests!"

* * *

_Orbiting Earth, Astro Megaship, late night_

"What are you saying, Karone?" asked Carlos quietly. He and Karone were sitting in the medical bay. Ashley and TJ were on the bridge, still scanning for Shiera - though Karone had to bodily throw Ashley outside, after Carlos collapsed.

"You've got to choose, Carlos". She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Things can't go on like that. If you and Shiera stay together, you're obviously going to be linked; it looks like it can't be helped"

"It's not a bad thing"

"This time was worse than the previous, Carlos. And the next time will be worse than this one"

"There won't be a next one"

"How do you know?" The guy was a hopeless romantic and it was going to get him killed. "She may never learn to control it, for all we know. Neither Melissa nor I can teach her how to control it"

"Maybe, with more time…"

"You don't have that time, Carlos". Karone checked again - no, Carlos' mind was still clear. Shiera may have lost control, but she managed to keep herself out of Carlos' head this time. Karone hoped it would stay that way - sometimes, the two of them got so tangled up in one another's emotions that they took hours to separate. The last time had left Karone with a migraine that lasted eight hours. "There's nothing I can do to help Shiera, more than I've already done. She just has too much power, and it can't be helped"

"She's your friend too, Karone. How can you be so cold about it?"

"I'm not. Not remotely. I'm anxious to the roof and would very much like to blast a couple of asteroids just to calm my nerves"

"You don't look like it"

"I've got responsibility. I can't lose control"

Carlos shook his head. "You're _so_ Andros' sister"

"Carlos, will you _please_ listen?" They've been going around in circles for ten minutes, now, and her patience was wearing thin. "_You don't have time_. You've got to choose"

"Choose what?"

"Whether to stay with Shiera or not. No, hear me out first!" She was pretty certain her eyes glowed purple - it happened sometimes when she was frazzled. "This link you and Shiera have, it's not a standard link like I've got with Zhane or Andros. You and Shiera are goddamn symbiotic, and you're getting more and more codependent with every day that passes". She paused, thinking how to best phrase what she had to say. "Marriage is a big step, isn't it?"

"Wh…"

"Just answer me", she said tiredly.

"It is", he agreed reluctantly.

"Where Shiera and you are heading, it's a more bonding thing than marriage. If you split now, you'll suffer terribly but you may get over it. If you split in three months time, though, it may kill you". Poor kid looked stunned - good, at least he's taking her seriously. "So you see, you have to choose now", she told him softly. "Because very soon, it's going to be too late"

"What will happen to Shiera, if…"

"I don't know", she admitted. "If you do it now, I think she'll survive: she's already lived longer than any other Willer in history"

"And in three months' time?"

"She'll survive, her sanity not so: she's already leaning on you very heavily"

They sat in silence for a long time.

"I can't, Karone", said Carlos. "I can't make this choice. I understand what you're saying, but I can't"

She said nothing; what more could she say?

"Isn't there someone else who can help?" asked Carlos suddenly. "You said you and Melissa can't teach her, but maybe there's someone else who can?"

"Don't you think I've been searching?" she asked back. "Willers aren't common, to say the least. The last true Willer lived two th…" Her eyes suddenly widened, and she stopped mid-word.

"Karone?" asked Carlos carefully, after a few seconds: her look of complete shock was unnerving.

"Maybe", she breathed, "Maybe my idiot of a brother did something right for a change". She shook her head. "See if you can't get some sleep. DECA can probably give you something to help with that". She pushed herself up and headed to the door. "I've got some calls to make"

"Aren't you going to tell me?" he called after her.

"When I'm sure!"

* * *

_Matika, Atare's ranch, around midday_

"Anarad?" called a man's voice. "You're burning lunch again!"

Cassie's heart beat like a hammer, and she barely heard what Anarad called back. That voice, Kenshin's voice - she knew it, she heard it before.

Heavy footsteps - what was he doing, jumping down the stairs three at a time? "Is Aaji…?"

"She's alright, Kenshin", called Anarad back.

"Since when do _we_ have guests?" came Kenshin's irate voice, and then the man himself entered the basement. _Powerful_ was the first word that came to mind: tall, broad-shouldered and moving with an uncanny grace. His was skin lightly tanned, the bronze complexion a perfect match for his short-cropped hair; he wore the same kind of clothes as Anarad and Aaji, but his eyes were hidden behind dark-tinted glasses.

"Well?" he demanded.

"We have two guests about yesterday's events", said Anarad. Were Cassie's ears deceiving her, or did his voice tremble? "One of them fell ill, and we brought her downstairs. The other is Ranger Cassie Chan"

For some reason, this made Kenshin pale. "Here? Where?", he asked, his voice dripping with anxiousness.

_He's blind_, Cassie realized. Aloud, she said: "Greetings, Kenshin"

"Gree.." He began, but then his voice broke, and he ran.

Cassie made a move as if to follow him, but suddenly Aaji was there, blocking the stairs and shaking her head vehemently.

"Andros never told you, did he" said Anarad sadly.

Cassie turned. "Anarad?" she asked, carefully. "What's going on? What did Andros not tell us? And how would you know?"

"Take a chair, Cassie", said Anarad, doing so himself. "It's not the shortest of stories and, well, you want to sit down for it"

"Kenshin's the Phantom Ranger, isn't he" asked Cassie as she drew herself a chair. Aaji removed herself from the stairs, and was now tending to Shiera.

"Mostly, yes". Seeing she was about to ask something, he raised his hand. "Please - let me explain"

She gathered up her feet, trying to settle in a more comfortable position. Anarad waited for her to compose herself, and began: "Kenshin, Aaji and I were Power Rangers for our worlds; maybe you guessed this already, maybe you didn't - it doesn't matter. That's how it was. The theory was that a single Ranger would be able to hold the ground until the others could get there, and historically, Evil forces had shown a tendency to attack only one world at a time. Who could gather enough forces to attack for than one world, anyway? The colors were assigned to planets, but finding Rangers took time. It took the Lehroins almost twenty years to find Aaji - she's the first Lehroin Ranger ever; their neural systems don't heal and don't take well to high energy stress, as I think you know"

Cassie gulped; she realized where this was leading, and it wasn't pretty.

"It was during those years of searching that Lehroi was attacked. We arrived in time to drive back the attackers, but we lost Notaru. He was the Kerovan Ranger and, technically, our leader. His morpher was passed on to another person. Aaji was found about a year after that. Everything was well, for a short while".

Anarad sighed and rubbed his temples. "When they attacked again, though, they attacked everywhere at once. It was the first attack of Dark Specter's joint forces; he had gathered them in secret, and we didn't know what to expect. I heard it said that the Kerovan Rangers were faced with the largest monster army ever gathered, and that may well be true as they were defeated; they were lucky, though, compared to the rest of us. Aaji managed to protect the evacuation, and teleported on board the last ship right before it hyperjumped. She collapsed as soon as she demorphed. I don't know why they didn't… put her to sleep, like they usually do with brain-damaged people, but they didn't. They brought her to Eltar. She made it through by sheer stubbornness, I think". He smiled sadly. "Yes, she could still talk at the time. Her injury wasn't all that bad, and the Eltarans will work miracles if it's to help a Ranger"

Silence. Cassie dared look at Aaji - if the woman knew what they were talking of, she didn't show it. _Can she understand language at all?_ Wondered Cassie. _It must be hell, living like that_.

Anarad was continuing. "Ashtar was attacked by the Machine Empire's forces. Their interceptors followed me into hyperspace. They were outracing me. I dropped back to normal space, demorphed, and teleported my morpher away. The Machines released me when they realized that they couldn't torture the morpher's location out of me. Gasket ordered to leave me for my people to find, as an example of their supposed fate. It wasn't my people who found me, though. It was Aaji. She escaped from the Eltaran hospital. I've no idea how she managed to fly a ship in the condition she was in, but she did it, and she found me on got me on board. I remember asking her where we were going, because the coordination she entered to the computer made no sense. She said 'three', and I didn't understand"

"Kenshin" whispered Cassie.

"We found him drifting in space, clinging to his morph like dear life - the Ranger suit was his only protection from the vacuum. He'd tried to bodily knock a torpedo out of course, the heroic idiot. The Ranger suit saved his life, and the Eltarans managed to repair the burned skin. They couldn't repair his sight, though. His eyes and his optic nerves were burnt beyond any chance of healing"

"How can a blind man be a Ranger?"

"_Only_ a blind man could be the Phantom Ranger. A perfectly cloaked person can see nothing, you understand. Only a trained blind can fight like that, even with the Power of the Morphing Grid. Only a blind man, and one who held a morpher before, but the Grid demanded that he not be alone. Aaji operated the ship �" in a like manner to how Rangers usually operate their Zords, only closer, more intimate, in a sense. The same things that made it harder on her to communicate with people allowed her to communicate better with the craft. As for me", Anarad shrugged, "I was the comm, the harbor. I kept data flowing, and I kept them sane. So you see, Kenshin is the one you knew as the Phantom Ranger… but in essence, it's the three of us"

* * *

_Orbiting Earth, the Astro Megaship_

"What is that supposed to mean, 'pulled an Andros'?" demanded Hurán over the comm.

"It means", said TJ patiently, "That she disappeared without a trace and without telling anyone that she's leaving"

"She left Medbay about seven minutes ago, and teleported off the ship seconds after that" added Ashley. "She used her magical teleportation, so only a sorcerer can trace her down"

"No mean sorcerer can track her", growled Hurán. "She's too good for that. Can Carlos say anything useful?"

Ashley shook her head. "He fell asleep pretty much the minute she left him, and I'm not waking him up. He needs sleep"

If looks could kill, Hurán's would have skewered Ashley on the spot. "And I need the princess", he shot. "I have a situation here"

"What kind of a situation?" asked TJ.

"Nothing for a Ranger to handle" said Hurán, rather nastily. "I need a diplomat, and she's the only one we've got"

"God, what a day from hell", said Ashley, letting her head drop into her hands.

"You can say that again", muttered Hurán and TJ at the same time.

"Look, Hurán, we'll let you know if we find anything, but you'd better not count on it", said TJ. "Anything else we can do to help?"

"I'll let you know. Hurán out"

The comm screen darkened. TJ and Ashley exchanged glanced.

"I hope Cassie's having a better time than us", said TJ.

"I sure hope so. We can only pray, though"

"Amen to that"

* * *

_Matika, Atare's ranch, around midday_

"Oh my god…" whispered Cassie. It was incredible - unbelievable - but it had to be.

"We couldn't let the meteor hit the planet, it would have caused too much damage, but we can't morph properly anymore. The strain of the last battle was too much on Aaji, you see; it was the final straw on her brain. She can't take on the power anymore, at least not until she's better… if she'll ever be. Kenshin had to fly the ship alone. It could've killed him - we're only supposed to access the Power as three, not separately - but there wasn't really a choice about it. It was the right thing to do"

"I would have never found you otherwise" said Cassie. "You left no traces, none at all. But - why did Kenshin run, Anarad? I don't understand. And what did you mean, when you said that Andros didn't tell us?"

"Why do you think you're called the Astro Rangers, Cassie?" asked Anarad harshly. "Those morphers were never meant to protect a single planet. Kenshin was black. Aaji was blue. I was yellow. Notaru was the first red. The silver morpher was first used some fifty years ago, and then put away until after Notaru died. Andros knows all that"

"Andros has an annoying tendency to keep secrets", said Cassie. _What an understatement_. "What about pink? Who was the first pink Astro?"

"You are, Cassie. You're our missing link, in a sense"

Silence; dead silence; the only sounds were Shiera's breathing and the steady beeping of the monitors.

"He has loved you from the beginning", said Anarad gently. "He loved you, and because you were already destined to be an Astro Ranger, and he once was one, you resonated through the Grid". Anarad shook his head and smiled at her; it was a crooked, broken kind of smile, but it was genuine nonetheless. "Gave me and Aaji a headache that lasted days, that did"

Cassie was staring. She knew she was staring, and shaking too, but everything was just too much.

Anarad's eyes drifted to the screen of the console he was working on. Whatever program he started before finished running, and now displayed three molecular structures. "Go talk to him, Cassie. He didn't go far, and the two of you need to talk. Aaji and I will take care of her", he nodded in Shiera's direction. "She seems to be getting better on her own, and we can synthesize some drugs that will help"

Cassie didn't move.

"Go, Cassie". Anarad turned and looked at her, his eyes unreadable. "He needs you. You need him. I can tell. Go"

She had started moving while he was still talking, getting shakily to her feet; by the time his whispered that last word, she was already running out the door.


	3. The Ghosts Through the Prism

_Triforia, the Royal Palace, early morning_

Some days you know are going to be trouble right from the start. Other days start out normal enough: wake up, go out for a jog, ditch bodyguards, return 15 minutes after schedule and grin at the personal aid who's doing a damn good job of hiding her smile. I grab a towel and say: "Don't even go there, Lysie"

"Wasn't going to". She stands there with her arms crossed across her chest and looking grim. "Don't need to, either"

I put down the towel and reach for the water glass. "Oh? And why not?"

"Because your schedule is going to be totally rewritten within ten minutes after I tell you that Hurán called"

Sputtering is one of those things that can't be done in a dignified manner; that's why royalty and other nobility aren't supposed to sputter; never stopped me, though. "Hurán called? What did he want? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Yes, he called; you know he never tells me; and I just did" she ticks off the answers on her fingers as we move over to the comm panel, and I hit in the codes. Hurán's online in seconds - whatever it is, it's urgent; then again, when was it ever not urgent?

"Dimitria is on her way to Netherie as we speak. Karone was suppose to handle this but she's disappeared and it probably won't be a good idea to let Melissa break the news to Dimitria, considering how much those two love and respect each other". You mean that as they're political rivals, and there's also the little issue of them hating each other, there's no point creating an interplanetary crisis if we can do without one. Hey, wait a second: "What news?"

"That Divatox is Dimitria's sister"

Lysie gasps in the background. I try not to stare too hard. "You're not kidding, are you"

"Well, we don't have any of Dimitria's genetic material yet as she's only expected here in four hours, but we do have Divatox held on Netherie, and she's most definitely an Inquirian and she's the spitting image of that righteous witch"

I'm so going on a hunting trip when this is over. A week-long hunting trip and Triforia can go to hell in my absence. Speaking of absences… "Where did you say Karone is?"

"She disappeared several hours ago. The Astro Rangers don't know where she went"

"Not even Andros?"

"Andros disappeared over twelve hours ago"

Don't curse, darling. It'll only serve to gaud Hurán into proving that he can outmatch you, and you know he can. "What happened?"

"Self esteem issues"

Trust Hurán to make that sound like Andros caught leprosy. "What's Karone's excuse?"

"It has to do with Shiera"

"What did Shiera do?"

"Went missing"

Scratch leprosy, this is the plague. "Zhane?"

"Hiding under a bed if he has any sense whatsoever"

"Why would he…" That's when I really catch on to what Hurán just asked me to do. "You want me to talk to Dimitria, don't you"

"It will be a disaster if Melissa does it, Karone is missing and the rest of the family - including I - rank well below Dimitira. You're the only planetary leader I have on speed dial"

"Does Melissa know?"

"What part of it?"

"Uh, anything?"

"Nothing. She's got her work and that's enough"

Yeah, detoxifying a planet and staying sane is two full-time jobs. Melissa has enough trouble without a posh Inquirian and her just-as-indomitable sister. You're a sly old bastard, Hurán, and we both know it. "Expect me in three hours' time. See you then"

"Thanks, Täna"

"Don't mention it"

When I turn around, Lys is already issuing orders over her palm unit. She notices me and gives me a thumbs-up. I go to the shower: she's got it, and I can get rid of the sweat.

Fifteen minutes later she unceremoniously dumps a pile of clean clothes on the bathroom stool. "Nerü is setting the ship, Rhi is apologizing to the cabinet and the senate, and I almost finished your packing"

"I'll be ready in ten minutes"

"Neiscer and Trey will be here in fifteen, so you'd better"

"Why'd you invite them together?"

"Do you want to be at Netherie in three hours' time, or not?"

"You and Trey can talk to Neiscer"

"I'm coming with you"

"No, you're not"

"Yes, I am, Littäneviel. Today you're going as the monarch of Triforia, and you'd better look and act the part if you want to make it through the day without the situation exploding in your face. I brought you something decent. You'll wear that for breakfast - and stop messing with your hair - I'll set you properly on the way. Why are you still in your towel?"

"You know", I say as I pull the shirt over my head. "None of my previous aids talked to me like that. They were nice, proper young nobles who knew their place in the world"

"That's why you kicked them all out in under three weeks"

* * *

_Matika, Atare Ranch, around noon_

She was afraid that he'd gone away, but he was sitting at Aaji's bench. He did not turn his head, but he must have heard her, because he said: "Please go away".

"I'm not going anywhere", she told him, coming over and sitting down next to him. "Not after this long chase you put me through"

"You chased a fantasy. We never knew each other. Whatever you may have imagined, it is probably nothing like reality"

"I never imagined anything". It seemed so strange when she said it out loud, but in her head it made perfect sense. "I always felt as if a fantasy - any fantasy - would be disloyalty to the real you"

"Everyone has fantasies, Cassie"

"What did you imagine?"

"What did you?"

For a few minutes they set in silence. Then, very quietly he said, almost to himself: "I dreamed of you singing. I would wake up at night, certain that I heard you sing. It was just a dream"

"It wasn't", she told him, almost as quietly, turning to him though she knew he could not see that. "I do sing, and there were many times I sang and thought of you. Maybe you heard that"

He said nothing.

"I dreamed of an endless sea of stars, and one planet floating below me. Then there would be a great flash of light, and the view would fade into darkness. I dreamed that, over and over"

His head snapped in her direction, and their faces were so close that it was almost painful. Cassie's heart constricted as she realized, again, that he could not see her, could not read her expression. "You saw that?" he asked, his voice filled with pain and hope.

"I dreamed it several times"

"Even when all other memories fade, that I can still see", he told her, voice still thick with emotion. "But how could you know?"

"Because we are meant to be"

"We know nothing of each other. How can you be so certain?"

"Because you heard me sing for you in the night; because I shared your one memory that would not leave you in peace; because we both knew that, from the first time we met. And you're wrong, we do know each other: we know those things that really matter". She took his right hand. He recoiled, and she waited until he semi-relaxed before putting it against her cheek. "I don't mind that you can't see. It doesn't matter, Kenshin, it doesn't matter to me. I loved you before I ever saw you"

Carefully his fingers brushed against her face, moving and exploring her features: cheekbones, ears, forehead, eyebrows, lashes, nose, lips and chin. "I am afraid, Cassie", he said finally. "I lost too many: of everyone I ever loved, only Anarad and Aaji are still alive"

"There is a saying on Earth: better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all"

"You have never loved and lost, Cassie. You don't know what you're speaking of"

She knew that what she was going to say was plain unfair, but she just had to make him see. "Would you rather that I knew?"

"What? No, never…"

"So don't turn me away"

He was quiet for what seemed like eternity. His hand never left her face, and she did not dare to move.

"We do live half across the galaxy from each other"

She wanted to cry; she wanted to laugh; she didn't know if to punch him or kiss him. "I'd say that after everything we've been through, this is really no big a deal. Do you have any other excuses?"

"I seem to have run out of them", he admitted wryly. "Why did I have to fall in love with a girl so stubborn?"

"Because", she answered firmly, and then she really did cry as ever so slowly, his lips curved into a smile.

* * *

_Temple of Power_

Karone walked briskly into the room. Determination, and not composure, lent her the strength not to look back as the two great doors closed behind her. She knew, at some level, that her decisiveness came from not thinking her actions too much; had she bothered to think through, she would've probably felt apprehensive or somewhat worried. After all, she was barging into the territory of one of the least-nice, more potentially harmful beings currently alive, with a claim that was probably going to get her her head bitten off. The same level of herself that realized all this also kept it out of her direct consciousness, because the only way she could pull this off and succeed would be by sheer self-assurance.

She stopped at the middle of the room and turned around slowly, eyes narrowing as she seemed to consider her surroundings. "Come out, come out, wherever you are", she whispered softly, as if to herself. It wasn't a game and it was a game; it had stringent rules, but it was deadly serious. Her moment of humor might come at a price. Aloud, she called: "Ninjor, I need your help!"

No answer.

"Ninjor, great guardian of the Temple of Power, I need your help!"

Again there was no answer.

"Ninjor, great guardian of the Temple of Power, forger of the Power coins of old, I need your help!"

"Who is calling?" demanded a voice. It echoed off the walls, and so its source could not be pinpointed.

"I, Karone of Kerova"

"Why should I help you, Karone of Kerova?"

"I wish to help a friend. I merely require your advice, nothing more"

"I know of you, Karone of Kerova", said the voice sternly. Blue smoke floated up from the matching-color vase that stood on the table. "Are you not the one who was known as Astronema, princess of evil, who has many evil deeds to her name?"

No point lying. No point trying to put things at a better, false light. As simply as possible, she said: "I am"

"Then how dare you stand here, and ask anything of me?" he roared, and she hardly resisted the impulse to put her hands over her ears.

"Because I wish to help a friend", she said steadily. "Nothing more, nothing less"

"A friend" repeated Ninjor skeptically. He didn't need to say it aloud, she could hear it in the tone of his voice: _the princess of evil can have no friends, the taker of lives can care for no one, the conqueror of worlds does not ask for help_. But she did come asking for help, and maybe that's why he was even willing to talk to her, because he continued: "Tell me…" Karone tried not to stiffen when he stopped abruptly, but there was no way that that was a good sign. "I saw that before", he said slowly, "or the like of it". She had not idea what he was talking about, but then he raised his right hand, index finger pointing forward directly at her chest, and she felt rather than saw the cold glow against her ribcage. _The crystal_, she realized. _Zordon's crystal_.

"But no, my eyes do not deceive me" continued Ninjor, and he no longer sounded hostile - more like bemused, and that had to be an improvement. Maybe he was no closer to helping her, but he was further away from blasting her for cheek. "What are the names of your parents, Karone?"

"Neraya and Ketro"

"Ketro, son of Yilsha, of Netherie?"

She swallowed. "Yes"

Ninjor chuckled. "Well then, the prophecy did state that you would be unexpected. You are here to help a friend, you say?" he still seemed more curious than caring, but curious was still better than bewildered. "Why come here, then? And what plagues this friend? Tell me quick, and maybe I will answer"

"Her name is Shiera. She is a Willer". Karone rubbed her eyes, but she didn't bother telling herself that it was just the dryness of the air that made her eyes sting. She kept a white night waiting on Andros and Zhane; she darted between three planets, what between Hurán and Ashley; She teleported herself all the distance to the Desert of Despair, and has made it through in what she suspected was a record time. She'd been awake and active since forever, it seemed, but tiredness would have to wait. "The power is eating her, slowly but surely. Information on Willers is scarce, as they are rare, but every Willer I read of eventually died of their own power, half of them going insane before it killed them". _Never before taking a lot other people with them_, she thought distantly. All the Willers she read about went violent, and violent Willers were very efficient killers. "I came here, because you're the Oldest, and have seen the most. If you wouldn't know a way to save her - " _before I have to kill her to save the rest of them, before Carlos dies of heartbreak _" - no one would" Could Ninjor hear the desperation in her voice? She wondered. Did he understand why she had to find a way to help Shiera?

If he did, he showed nothing of it. "A Willer? Unusual indeed!"

"She's the Rainbow Walker of Oshra's prophecy, if that means anything to you" added Karone, though without much hope; he revealed to her that he knew about the prophecy, but she didn't know how much he knew. If he knew that much, though, it might help - it seemed he was only listening to her because she wore Zordon's crystal, and that had to count for something - even with an arrogant egomaniac like Ninjor.

"Yes, it does", says Ninjor solemnly. "But I cannot help you: I know of no Willers who survived their own power"

Wrong answer, even if she did manage to convince him that her plea was worthy of his help. She refused to believe he knew nothing that would help. There had to be a connection somewhere in his vast experience. She would just have to help him find it. "Shiera's already different than any Willer I read of", she insisted. "She survived for four years, not knowing what she is. She held back on her life, on almost anything that made her a person, but she _survived_. That defense is broken now. Don't you know a way?" She was pleading. Her tiredness and fatigue were taking their toll on her, and she had tears in her eyes. She didn't bother to blink them away, didn't bother with anything except trying to make Ninjor help her, whether or not he thought he could.

"None that succeeded", he said flatly, but not entirely unsympathetically.

"Tell me anyway. Maybe we could make it work"

Ninjor shook is head. "It is impossible. A Willer is, by definition, self-destructive. Perhaps, if she was a Ranger…"

"But she is", interrupted Karone. _Could my mistake be not such a mistake after all?_ "She's the Green Strike Ranger. I made the morpher, when…" She faltered. She hated to remind him that she was Astronema.

Ninjor's gaze was piercing, even through his opaque visor, and Karone had to work hard not to drop her gaze. "Indeed", he said, and it didn't sound quite like a reprimand. "And the morpher is not bound to evil?"

"It's not". She tried her best to get her balance again, even that she knew it was futile. "It is bound only to me, and perhaps to her"

"How do these bonds express themselves?"

"I can sense her, most of the time. When she's sad, when she's happy, where she is… I can always tell, unless she's blocking me deliberately. Is there a way?" she asked Ninjor again. His voice and posture betrayed nothing like caring, so far, but he was yielding more and more information as she pressed, and what he said before seemed like he knew a way. "Is there a way I can help her?"

"There may be a way", said Ninjor grudgingly. "Once there was an active Ranger who became a Willer, and came seeking my help after he had almost lost his mind to the power. We devised a way, his team and I; but he did not survive, and neither might your Shiera"

Karone laughed. "Don't you think she wants to live? Don't you think she knows the chances? Little hope is better than none"

"And yet it would have to be her choice" said Ninjor, and Karone wanted to laugh again, because she finally knew that he would help; that there was a way; that they could beat history.

"Ninjor…" she shook her head. "If I don't find a way for her, she'll kill herself before anything can go more wrong than it already did"

"Did she tell you that?" asked Ninjor, and were Karone more alert his scrutiny would've put her on guard. As it was, though, she was tired and bitter, and probably very near hysterical, and she answered honestly - which was, altogether, for the best.

"No", she said, "and she probably doesn't know she feels this way. But I know - I just do - and for one reason or the other, I feel responsible"

"Do you feel that you own her?"

"What?" Karone was genuinely startled. "No! Not - " she stopped abruptly, having realized where that one came from. "Never again", she finished quietly. "And it's not that I want to make up for anything, either. It's just - I feel responsible, that's all". It didn't make sense, and she knew it -

"Exactly how much responsible do you feel?" inquired Ninjor. "Because if you really want to give your friend a chance, I'm going to have to take you up on it"

* * *

_Kerova, Kyota, dusk_

Could he pretend that it he was staring east, and not west, and that the sun was rising, and not setting? Could he pretend that Andros had just slipped away to the park, not to a planet so distant that it took over eight hours to get there on a glider? That Karone was asleep upstairs, and not who-knows-where? It could be, couldn't it, that the day was just beginning, that everything could still go right, that they would have a lazy day?

Zhane knew it couldn't be. He knew that he hadn't actually seen Andros since sometime at night, that Karone had left shortly after dawn and he hadn't since her since, either, and that he himself spent the day worrying and feeling depressed; he knew that the only good thing about this day was that nobody died - yet.

Some comfort, a little reprieve: was it too much to ask? _Haven't we given enough?_ He demanded of the universe in his mind. _Why is it that the more we give, the more is demanded of us?_ He knew the answer, of course, the one that Andros or Karone would take for granted - that it was just people, and given a finger they would take the hand. He knew the answer, and he couldn't help but feel bitter about it, because he expected people to be better than that; he expected people to be good, even though he should have known otherwise - even though he knew that the universe made no preference between good and evil.

Losing wasn't something Zhane did; accepting defeat wasn't something he'd ever learned; yet, it only made him more bitter, because he kept expecting things to be better than they actually turned out to be, and he'd never learned to be philosophical about it. Never learned, and never will: he knew that much about himself, and he knew that no matter how much it would hurt, he'd never change - never learn to trust people a little less, to expect a little less, to feel less surprised when life didn't turn out for the best for the ones he loved or for himself.

That made him even more bitter, and for the last few hours he'd been wondering what could drag him out of this black mood that descended on him.

"They're coming back, you know". It was Nita, strangely enough. He expected his mom might try to counsel him, or maybe Kirrie would try to guilt-trip him into the house. Instead, it was Nita who was standing by his shoulder, staring into the sunset as if she's said nothing.

He thought he was beginning to get over the two years he lost. That was before the resettlement of Kyota, before he found his family: before he saw how much Nita and Kirrie grew up. His mom's hair grayed and her face had more lines than they used to; Andros eyes showed his two years of isolation; but of all those Zhane regarded as family, Nita and Kirrie had changed the most in the last two years. Last he'd seen Kirrie she was barely more than an infant and now she was an energetic nine-years-old; Nita and he had always been close - but now she was fifteen, same age he was two years ago, same age he still thought himself. It was staggering - harder to realize than the loss of his father, even.

He was still realizing that loss; his mom and sisters were still realizing that he was alive. It was a huge gap, and they were no closer to sealing it than they were day he walked through the doorstep, and found them already there.

Abruptly, he realized that he hadn't answered Nita yet; and he owed her at least that. "I know they'll come back", he said, "but they still went in the first place. Karone sorts of has an excuse - but Andros…" He trailed off.

"You really love them so much?" asked Nita, and he heard her real question: _don't you love us as much?_ "Andros I can understand - I mean, we practically grew up together, and he's as much Kirrie's and my brother as you are, and mom sure considers him another son. But - I mean - you hardly know Karone. I'm being an idiot, aren't I?"

"If you are, I sure am", he told her. "I didn't tell you I love you, didn't I? I didn't tell you about the times I woke up in the middle of the night and wondered where you were and what you were doing, or how I totally drove Kinwon crazy with asking him nonstop about you and mom and Kirrie even when he told me he knew nothing five times already?"

"Don't apologize", said Nita harshly. "I've been nasty to you, okay?"

"And I was unfair to you", he insisted. "Still am, because - "

"Because you can't be happy right now", she completed. "Damnit, Zhane, that's not betrayal!"

"Can you honestly say that you don't feel betrayed?" he retorted, and despite that he knew what her answer would be, it still stung when she closed her mouth and looked away.

Then she hugged him. "Don't go all big-brother on me", she whispered fiercely. "Don't feel that all you're doing is wrong. Don't - don't try to be what you think we want you or need you to be, because what we really want you to be is you, okay? And that includes everything"

He knew she meant that. She understood something that he didn't, and that gave her the strength to stand there and tell him that she couldn't care less that he seemed to miss Andros or Karone more than he'd missed his blood family, and mean what she said. She honestly meant that.

She was so much his sister that he wanted to cry, and cry he did.

* * *

_Netherie, Golden Guard camp, evening_

"This is Netherie?" Lysie asks, wide-eyed.

"This is Netherie", I agree. It's quite the site, too, if you're into demolition and ruin. "Pretty, isn't it?"

"Looks better than I expected, actually", she admits.

"Yeah, well. The camp looks better than most areas"

"Täna!" Turning aside, we see Hurán walking briskly in our direction. "You arrived at the last minute. Dimitria's entering the system as we speak". He stops, and then he seems to notice Lysie for the first time. "What's she doing here?"

"Making Täna look professional" she shoots back.

I shrug. "She's got a mind of her own"

Hurán is nonplussed, but then again - the only expressions I ever saw him wear are irritation and worry. "Stay out of trouble", he tells her, then turns to me: "She gets out of your sight, you're responsible"

"Got it. What do I need to know before Dimitria gets here?"

Hurán checks the time. "She'll finish procedure any minute now. Control will direct her to a teleport site just outside the camp - we'd better start walking"

"What do I need to know?" I prompt again as we're walking.

"You know we've been trying to hunt down Dark Specter's generals since his defeat a month ago. Well, the Blue Senturions had a great time grinding the royals of the Machine Empire into scrape metal, Rita and Zed escaped to M-51 so they're out of reach for a while, and that left us with Divatox and the rest of the pirate clans, which we've been slowly mopping up"

The pirate clans were reduced to half their original population in a month. Only Hurán would call it "slow".

"About a week ago, Andros retrieved some information concerning a possible pirate hideout near Yesheksh prime"

Judging by Hurán's sour tone, this would translate as "Andros infiltrated somewhere highly dangerous just to prove he can, and brought back a rumor to prove he was there". Andros has got to be suicidal - either he'll be killed on one of those ridiculously dangerous missions he assigns himself, or Hurán will kill him for worrying his sister like that. Red Ranger or not, Andros could use a good slap upside the head; but I'm not going to claim responsibility for him, too.

Hurán continues. "Yesterday, he and Zhane went to investigate. They returned with Divatox"

"Woke you up in the middle of the night?" I guess.

"One in the morning, actually. I ran her through the standard medicals, and she turned out Inquirian. Wiped her makeup off, and she looks just like Dimitria". He stops walking. "We're there"

"There" would be the teleportation point - which is just an empty spot in a dead field, as could be expected.

"Why would Dimitria's sister be raised as a space pirate?" asks Lysie.

Hurán gives her a withering glance. "If anything happened to Dimitria, it would've put Divatox in a very comfortable place - from Dark Specter's point of view"

"And it has the potential of becoming one hell of a diplomatic crisis", I add. "Remind Karone that she owes me a favor, okay?"

"Will do"

"Does Dimitria know why she's here?"

"Not really"

"What excuse did Karone use?"

"That she requires Dimitria's counsel on a sensitive matter. Which is technically true"

A white ray shoots from the sky, and splashes unto the ground. Split-second later Dimitria stands before us, in her eternal white gown.

* * *

_Hyperspace_

Cassie rubbed her eyes tiredly, but it didn't help. They were still burning terribly. _Tiredness and crying would do that_, she thought wryly._ What a day_. She would've stayed longer at Matika - at Kenshin's - but she had to get Shiera to Karone. She glanced backwards. Shiera had been asleep and stable since they left Matika, and should stay like that until they reached home.

Cassie frowned. The original plan was to return to Eltar then head home to Earth. That plan was scrapped for obvious reasons. Cassie had been out of touch since she left Eltar, though - she needed information before she could plot a new course.

The light on the comm board switched from orange to green, indicating that the Rosy Outlook finally came within range from Earth. Cassie punched in the Megaship's code. TJ answered her hail, looking haggard and worn out - which wasn't surprising, considering that it had to be 3 a.m. at Angel Grove; Cassie had expected DECA to pick up the call.

"Tell me you found him", said TJ before Cassie could voice her surprise.

"I have", she said.

"Good, at least something went right today"

"TJ, what happened?" asked Cassie. "Why are you even awake? It has to be, like, 3 a.m."

"It's two, actually", he answered, stifling a yawn. "But who's counting?"

"Mind telling me what happened?" she asked again. "Did you sleep at all in the last 24 hours?"

"No". He yawned again. "I've been awake since you called yesterday"

Which was at one-thirty in the morning.

"Oh jeez", she muttered.

"You can say that again", he agreed. "Andros has disappeared into danger again. Shiera's gone, too - she's been missing since about the time you left - "

"She's not missing", interjected Cassie. "She's here. Teleported on board right after I talked to Ashley, before leaving Eltar"

"She was with you _all along_?"

"Yeah"

"God, I'm going to _kill_ her", muttered TJ.

"What happened?" asked Cassie. How many times did she ask this already? "Did she and Carlos have a fight?"

"Worse. Her family. She told them, and it didn't go down well. I had to clean it up"

Small wonder TJ looked so harassed. "Shiera's mostly okay, at least", she said. "She's had an episode about four or five hours ago - hypercharge - but we've got it under control and she's sleeping now"

"Yeah, we know about the hypercharge. Carlos collapsed when it happened. Gave Ashley a good scare - like she needed it"

Cassie frowned. "Where did Andros disappear to now?"

"One quest or the other", said TJ tiredly. "Decided that he's not sure he's worthy of being a Power Ranger. Last I talked to Zhane he said Andros was still alive - but that's all we know. He's been missing since before Shiera, even, and no one had heard from him since"

Cassie whistled. "What else did I miss?"

"Well, Karone's missing, too - she's had some sort of revelation and left before she told anyone where she was going to. Hurán's furious - apparently she was supposed to take care of something at Netherie that he can't take care of himself and he wouldn't tell any of us what it's about. That's about it"

Cassie nodded. "What do I do with Shiera?" she asked. "I thought I'll get her to wherever Karone is, but if Karone's off the radar…"

"You say she's stable", said TJ, "so there's no real need to get her to Melissa for inspection. Bring her home and let Carlos handle her"

"I don't think it's a good idea for her to go home, TJ", said Cassie quietly. "She probably wouldn't want to, from what you told me"

"I meant home to the Megaship, not home to her parents' house. She isn't going anywhere near there before I make sure her parents are going to behave themselves"

"That bad?"

"Worse"

They were silent for a few moments.

"So, how did it go with Phantom?" asked TJ.

"Do you have a few spare hours?"

"Yeah, I do. I need to stay awake and if I have one more cup of coffee, I'm going to get an ulcer"

* * *

_Kerova, Kyota, night_

She was on her way to the kitchen, to fetch a glass of water. The girl was standing on the doorstep as if not daring to go in.

"Hi", offered the girl tentatively.

"How long have you been standing there?" asked Rya.

The girl shrugged. "Couple of minutes?" she offered.

"Why didn't you come in?"

"I wasn't sure if I could"

"The door was open, Ashley", said Rya patiently. "It means you can come in". She paused. "Come on in already"

The girl smiled slightly and stepped in. "Zhane isn't here, is he?" she asked as the walked into the kitchen.

"No, he and Nita are out", said Rya, taking out two mugs. "Strolling around, I think. They'll probably be back soon"

"Okay"

Rya handed the girl her tea. "Give it a moment to cool", she warned.

Ashley nodded, taking the mug gingerly and sitting down.

"So", asked Rya conversationally, opening the fridge, "how was your day?"

Ashley considered the question. "I've had worse"

Rya eyes the girl critically and - hopefully - surreptitiously. Ashley was the one among the kids that looked normal: Zhane and Kirrie were worn around the edges, Andros and Karone looked at least five years older than their age and Nita was definitely pinched. Rya put a fruit bowl on the table, and took out the bread and some cheese.

"But you've also had better"

"Yeah, well", Ashley shrugged. "It's better than a normal day on the job"

Rya cocked an eyebrow, though she suspected what that meant. Her suspicion was confirmed when Ashley elaborated: "Nobody tried to do us in or attack our planets so far. What is it with Andros and disappearance acts?" she added irritably.

"When you find out, let me know", said Rya. The girl was ignoring the bread, but munching on the fruits. _Peanut bars_, thought Rya distractedly. _We could use those_.

Silence reigned for a while. Suddenly Ashley straightened in her seat, and the next moment she all but bolted to the front door. Rya followed her at a slightly more normal pace. She saw two figures, walking, on the other side of the plaza, but it was too dark and they were too far for her to recognize.

"Zhane!" shouted Ashley, and the next moment she was running down the path. The taller of the two figures broke into a run, with the other following close behind him. Zhane and Ashley met halfway across the plaza. For a moment he swung her around, and the next they were standing in place, holding each other.

People peered out of windows and doors of virtually every house within range, but Rya knew that neither Ashley nor Zhane could care less that they were making a scene. She also knew that the neighbours would forgive the racket Ashley made - after all, she was Ashley of _Earth_. She wondered if Ashley knew what a sensation she was._ Probably not_. Andros wasn't the first Kerovan to choose an off-worlder - his own mother being a case in point. Kerova was a sparsly-populated word sitting at the junction of several commerce routes: as a result, off-world relationships were perfectly normal for Kerovans. Ashley wasn't just any off-worlder, though: she was from Earth. The Kerovans knew of Earth - they knew that their ancestors were brought by Eltarans from Earth to Kerova millennia ago - but that planet had become a thing of legend. To have a living, breathing Earther among them was a thing of wonder, and Ashley had no idea what the press made of her. Rya tried to keep it that way.

Nita was walking up the path. "She's crying on his shoulder", she informed her mom. "I hope he's done with his own crying, so that now he can comfort her a bit"

"Probably not"

"Probably not", agreed Nita, standing shoulder to shoulder with her mother. "Kirrie put tadpoles in Andros' drawers, earlier. I took them out, but he's going to be missing on clean socks when he gets back"

"Tadpoles couldn't have done _that_ much damage"

"It wasn't the tadpoles. It was the slime and the mud that came with them"

* * *

_Netherie, next to the Golden Guard camp, evening_

Hurán bows slightly. "Lady Dimitria"

I nod my head. "Lady Dimitria"

"Hurán", she nods in reply. "Queen Littäneviel. I was not aware you would be here?"

"That echoes in my thoughts"

"Indeed". So far so good. She turns to Hurán again. "I was expecting the lady Karone?"

Surprise: she's in a good mood. I expected her to be at least slightly annoyed, considering as she'd been called away from her planet for no obvious reason by a person who isn't overly fond of her. Then again, knowing Karone, Dimitria probably think that Karone is charmed by her presence.

"The princess is held up, I'm afraid. She request your forgiveness"

"Certainly"

My turn. "May I have the pleasure of your company in the meantime?"

"Is the pleasure not mutual?"

Hurán's comm beeps. He probably set that one in advance.

"Excuse me, queen and lady, but I must leave"

"Have fun", I tell him.

Dimitria just nods.

"You seem quite comfortable here" she remarks, the moment Hurán is out of earshot.

"I'm here a lot", I admit. Like she didn't know it beforehand.

"So I heard"

"Shall we walk?" I suggest.

"Why not?"

I pick a semi-random direction, aiming for a walk around the camp. Lysie walks at a respectful distance behind Dimitria and myself.

"Is that not an acolyte's band on your wrist?"

I knew there was a reason she gives me the creeps. "You don't believe in small talk, do you?"

"Is that not the reason that you come here often?"

I'm not answering that.

"I have been curious about the band since…" She pauses. "Since I saw you wearing it, when we last met". Another pause. "It was the first I saw an acolyte's band since the fall of the Netherie"

Too many memories; I look away.

"You really don't believe in small talk", I finally say. Not answering is just too rude, even for me. "Mom sent me on grand tours when I was younger - couple of months on a different planet each year. All princesses get that. I was recalled from Netherie ahead of time, though, because my aunt Einryl was getting married. The attack was two weeks after I left". I look at Dimitria. "I got the band just before I left. It was honorary. Yuria Yilsha herself gave it to me"

Dimitria nods slowly. "And now it serves its purpose"

"What?"

"Yuria Yilsha knew what was coming", says Dimitria patiently. "She knew you would not return to Netherie for years, if at all. You wore the band all those years, did you not?"

I nod cautiously, not trusting my voice to speak.

"Was it not a constant reminder for you, of a world destroyed that was worth saving?"

I turn my head again. "If you've been so bursting with questions, you didn't have to wait for a chance meeting"

"I've been trying to receive an audience with you for a while now". She actually sounds amused. "Your department of Foreign Affairs seemed to think that an interview of no stated issue is also of no importance"

They would think that - but not when the person requesting the interview is a figure of Dimitiria's caliber.

"It wasn't the department"

Both Dimitira and I turn and look at Lysie. She raises her chin in defiance. "That was me", she informs us. "She's been requesting this 'interview' since a week after the funeral, Täna. I told Foreign Affairs to leave you be for a while. You've had more than enough on your plate. If she wouldn't say what's it about, it could wait"

Such a breach of protocol can cost Lysie her career. She shouldn't be owning up to this - especially not in front of a third party that happens to be the affronted side - if not for the sake of Lysie's life, then because we're here to avoid a diplomatic crisis, not create one. The girl's rash, not stupid. What does she think she's doing?

"If you think I did wrong, go ahead and fire me", she says. That chin is still stuck up. "I knew what I was doing. You've had the four months from hell, Täna, and nobody seemed to care"

It's Dimitria who speaks, strangely enough. "Had I not pressed more if that matter had been that urgent?"

Which is the Inquirian's way of saying that she'll let it pass. I close my eyes and let out a long breath. "I guess you can keep your job", I murmur. "But try not to do something like that again, will you?"

"Okay", she agrees.

The moments tick by, but none of us are moving. None of us have a reason to, really.

"I didn't need the band to remember", I say. The words are hard to say. The only person I explained this to before is Hurán, and that's because I had to. Lysie and Dimitiria sort of earned the right to know, though. "I babysat her, for crying out loud. She's the one who first called me Täna, because Litänaviel is a hard name for a four-years-old to pronounce"

"Melissa", says Lysie quietly. "You're talking about Melissa"

"Yeah". Now is my turn to stare into the sunset. "I'm probably the only person, save for her cousins, who know her from before - before Netherie fell. This is why I'm here"

I startle when I feel a soft touch on my cheek - Dimitria's hand, making me look at her. "Are you not wondering what good you're for?" she asks. "This is the difference of a queen from a princess, Littäneviel: a princess would act to realize her vision of the world. A queen has others acting, too, for she has drawn them into this vision to make it theirs as well as hers. This is what a queen can do, that a government cannot"

Lysie offers a packet of tissues. Dimitria takes off her hand as I take the packet from Lysie and wipe my face.

"It was not my intention to embarrass you", says Dimitira quietly.

I shake my head. "If only it'd been as easy as you make it out to be. I can't even convince Neicser - my cousin", I explain. "She's crown princess, so I can't avoid her, and she's been giving me hell about all the time I've been spending roundtripping to and from Netherie instead of sitting at home and babysitting the cabinet"

Dimitria seems pensive. "I've tried to convince the government of Inquirus to allow me to organize a planetwide volunteer force, to help rebuild Netherie. They would not be convinced that Inquirus would make such an effort alone, and I could not approach another planet's government without the approval of my own"

I almost smile. "I thought of something similar, too, and couldn't do anything about it for pretty much the same reasons"

"I won't hold your calls again", says Lysie dryly. "But don't you think that you should strike your agreement after dealing with the other issue?"

I almost forgot, actually.

Dimitria looks between us. "Was is really Karone I was supposed to meet?" she asks. "Or was it you?"

"Karone was supposed to handle this", I say slowly, "but she really did get held up. I'm here in her stead"

Dimitria frowns. "What matter is so grave, that Hurán would summon you across constellations for?"

I take a deep breath. "Shall we walk?" I suggest.

* * *

_Eltar space_

She didn't hear Shiera wake up, and didn't hear Shiera's steps or the locker door as Shiera got her bag. She didn't notice Shiera standing behind her as she navigated the yacht through the system and into orbit, either.

"How're we getting to Earth?"

Cassie swiveled in her chair, startled. She stared at Shiera. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you!" she said finally. "I thought you were still sleeping!"

Shiera shrugged. "Sorry for spoiling your quest", she said.

It Cassie a moment to process the question, and she huffed in amusement when she did. "You didn't spoil anything. I found him"

To Cassie's surprise, Shiera seemed startled. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"About six hours?" offered Cassie. "The trip back, plus something like an hour and a half"

"But…" Shiera frowned. "Anarad?"

"Kenshin", corrected Cassie. "And I'm bashing Andros when he's back, if Ashley won't skin him alive. Or Zhane. Or Karone"

Shiera opened her mouth to ask another question, but then TJ's voice came over the comm: "Hi, Cassie, can I teleport you over already? Alpha's ready for Shiera in the infirmary"

"Sure" said Cassie, getting up but not turning from Shiera. "And you can tell Alpha to stand down. Shiera decided to freak me out, then play 20 questions"

"Shiera?" came Carlos' voice, drowning TJ's "She's up?"

"Just teleport us already", said Cassie; Shiera had frozen up, and Cassie wasn't about to wait.

The yacht dissolved in light, and the Megaship's bridge materialized around them. Carlos was hugging Shiera almost before they were fully out of the teleportation stream, as much as Cassie could tell. She looked at TJ.

He shrugged. "Wouldn't you?" he said.

"Hell, yeah", she answered fervently.

He turned his head to DECA's camera. "Hi, DECA, mind getting us home?"

"Certainly, TJ"

"Maximum hyperrush". He looked at Cassie. "We'll be home in no time. Get a room", he added in Shiera and Carlos' direction. "You're dead on your feet, both of you, and it's not like you're going anywhere else tonight"

"Her family?" asked Cassie after Carlos and Shiera left the bridge.

TJ shook his head. "Let them stew", he said. "They've got a lot to think about. She's not going anywhere near that house before we can be sure of what they're going to be like - which means talking to them again. And I want to get some sleep, too"

"So go sleep. I'll watch the bridge"

"The probability of attack en route to Earth are infinitesimal", said DECA. "You may both sleep"

TJ nodded. "My uncle thinks I'm on the same camping trip as you", he said. "We're clear. DECA, wake me up at five-thirty, okay? I promised Shiera's parents I'd update them at six sharp"

"Confirmed. Sleep well, Rangers"

"Thanks, DECA"

* * *

_Kerova, Kyota, night_

He'd promised himself that he'd yell at her. He was fully intending to tell her off for disappearing like that, for worrying him as if he didn't have enough to worry about. He'd specifically stayed up for that purpose. When her distinctive teleport signature appeared in the kitchen, he got up and was about to give her the speech he rehearsed in his head - and if she caught his angry expression and crossed arms, it didn't show in the way Karone all but collapsed and cried on his shoulder.

Angry speech so far out the window that it was in another system, Zhane awkwardly rubbed circles on her back and made soothing noises for almost fifteen minutes. Mom and the girls didn't wake up - Karone was crying in a perfectly eerie silence, and his own voice was nothing more than a murmur.

"Karone?" he asked when his feet were getting sore. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

She hiccupped. "I'm going to have to do it again. _We're_ going to have to do it again, and she just might die anyway. It's not fair"

"Of course it's not fair", he agreed.

"You", she said, jabbing her finger in his shoulder without unburying her face from his chest, "have no idea what I'm talking about"

"True. But you've been crying for half an hour straight, so it's gotta be something really bad"

"I have not been crying for half an hour"

There was a clock on the wall. He glanced at it. "It's now 25 minutes since you teleported in. Close enough"

"Yeah", she muttered. "Is Andros back yet?"

"No. But Shiera was with Cassie the whole time"

"She was?" Karone finally lifted her face. Zhane couldn't help but cringe at how awful she looked.

"Smart girl", murmured Karone, apparently oblivious to his reaction. "At least she wasn't alone. But no news from Andros?"

"I wish. But Phaedos is a long way from here, and the quest probably took hours, and maybe he decided to rest a bit before returning home…" Zhane's voice trailed. Other side of the galaxy or not, Andros has been gone for twenty hours. It wasn't _that_ long by Andros' standards, but still.

"It doesn't help that I know he's alright", murmured Karone. "I'm still worried sick"

"That makes two of us"

"Three", corrected Ashley, padding into the kitchen. "What an awful day"

"Ashley?" Karone turned in Zhane's arms. "What're you doing here?"

Ashley shrugged. "Waiting"

Karone exhaled slowly. Zhane pulled her closer, resting his head on top of hers and closing his eyes. "I don't want to worry about anyone anymore", he said.

"Amen to that", said Ashley fervently.

"Aye", agreed Karone. She closed her eyes and leaned back against Zhane, and they both fell into the chair with her in his lap. "Not going to happen, though"

* * *

_Netherie, Golden Guard camp, night_

We've been staring into the night for what feels like forever.

"What will I do?" asked Dimitria finally. "Would it be wise to take her home now? Wouldn't it be wrong to leave her?"

"I don't know", I say. "I wish I could help you, but I'm just the messenger"

Dimitria smiles faintly. "I didn't shoot you, did I?"

"And I very much appreciate it", I assure her.

"What will I do?" she asks again.

This time I don't answer.

"Would she even believe me, when I tell her?"

"I don't know. She wouldn't want to believe, but there's no mistaking that you look like sisters"

She considers, and then she turns to me. "Will you take me to her?"

"Sure"

She fidgets all the way to the holding area. I stop one of the guards. "Do you know where Divatox is held?"

"Section 1, tent 23A", he says. "Can't miss it. It's the only white one around. Not that it'll stay white long, in this weather. I've no idea what the captain was thinking"

I think I have an inkling. What do you know, Hurán has a sense of humor. "Thanks"

"Sure"

We find the tent easily enough, and step inside. Behind the force field, Divatox begins to wail as soon as she sees us. "Oh, no! Not her! Go away!"

I nod at the guards. "Would you folks step outside for a moment?"

"Go away!" continues Divatox. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Dimitiria reaches up, and slowly undoes her veil. I look between them. Lysie gasps silently and covers her mouth. Hurán was right - they look so much alike that it's incredible how no one ever noticed.

Dimitira stops wailing. For a moment, she just seems bewildered, and then her eyes widen and she step back with a look of utter horror. "What's this supposed to mean?" she shrieks. "You look just like me!"

"Would it not seem that we are related?" asks Dimitria. No _way_ she's that calm.

"No!" shrieks Dimitria. "No way! You are not related to me!"

"The genetic scan suggests otherwise", Dimitria tell her, "as does the similarity in our features"

"No way. I refuse to be related to you"

"I don't think you get to choose", I mutter. Both sisters look at me with identical annoyance.

Lysie chuckles. Easy for her - she's not the one being stared down by those two.

"Would you stop that?" I ask. "I know you two are used to handling Rangers, but I can't take a double dose of that look"

"I do not have the same look as her", says Divatox automatically. "I hate her!"

"Would that change the truth?" asks Dimitria.

Divatox starts screaming again.

"Lysie?" I ask.

"Yeah?" she answers, raising her voice slightly and stepping closer.

"Can you get me a pain killer? I think we'll be here for a while"

* * *

_Kerova, Kyota, late at night_

"And this is what I have to tell Shiera", sighed Karone. "It's the best chance we'll have, but I hate it all the same"

Ashley and Zhane bugged Karone for the story, she flat-out refused to risk a non-Ranger overhearing, and so they'd escaped the house. Presently they were lying on top of a grassy mound, within view of the neighborhood.

"Any idea what Shiera would say?" wondered Ashley.

"I say she'd do it", muttered Zhane.

"Which is what worries me", admitted Karone. She was fingering her crystal and staring up into the sky.

Ashley frowned. Karone always wore the crystal on top of her cloths, and touched it as little as possible: Ashley had only seen her touch it when she was purposely accessing Zordon's memories. It was odd for Karone to handle the crystal casually, and Ashley was about to ask her about it, when she felt it. Zhane and Karone felt it at the same time, and so they were all on their feet when the teleportation beam shot down. They were all over Andros almost before the teleportation completed, and it was a wonder that the tangle of four didn't lose their balance and managed to stay on their feet.

Andros couldn't breath. Karone was hung on his neck, Ashley was kissing him like she hadn't seen him for at least a month, and Zhane was attempting to hold him and Karone at the same time - because the girls were so positioned that Zhane couldn't hold just Andros. In short, Andros had all his airways blocked - and rather than making a fuss about it, he had totally given in.

At some point Ashley drew back for a fraction of a second, and Karone used that chance to slap Andros so hard that he stumbled. He hadn't seen the blow coming, but he did manage to beat her to talking.

"I'm perfectly aware that I acted like a total and complete jackass", he told her, nursing his cheek; it would bruise, he was sure of that. "Dulcea and at least two Ninjeti spirits chewed me out already, so don't feel obliged to do the same"

"You are the world's biggest jerk", Ashley told him. "And if you ever, ever pull something like this again, don't bother coming back because I'll skin you alive, one square inch after another. I love you, you idiot!"

"Stole the words from my mouth", said Zhane. He jabbed his finger into Andros' chest. "Don't you ever sneak into our bedroom again to leave us a fucking _note_, d'you hear me?"

Andros raised his hands in surrender. "I hear and obey"

"Good", growled Karone. Suddenly, she glanced at her watch. "Damn! I've got to get going"

"What? Why?" asked Andros.

"Because I self-teleported today enough for a week, and I need to get going now if I want to be at Angel Grove before six a.m."

"What's at Angel Grove at six a.m.?" asked Andros, frowning.

Ashley snapped her fingers. "Shiera's parents!"

"Huh?" Andros wasn't getting it.

"We're all going", said Zhane firmly. "Let's make this a Team Thing. We'll explain on the way", he told Andros. "Oh, damn", he added, "Look - you guys get a ship and punch in a course, I'll go wake mom and tell her where we're going - she's had enough of disappearing acts, too"

"I'd imagine", agreed Ashley with a smile. "Get going"

After Zhane left, Andros looked between Ashley and Karone. "I'm going to regret asking this", he said slowly, "but what did Shiera's parents do?"

* * *

_Netherie, once-palace of the Yuria, late afternoon_

The great halls are empty. The wind blows through the open windows, my steps and breath: those are the only sounds I can hear. The place had been cleaned up a little more since last I was here, but it's still a sight that would've made me ball my hands into fists - if I hadn't been used to it already. I've been here too many times.

Melissa doesn't have a schedule. She'll be at this part of the planet, then another, in the space of hours. Over a day, she'll usually cover twenty-some sites, depending on how they're all progressing. She and the Golden Guard are used to crazy schedules and little sleep. Most hours of the day it's hard to tell where Melissa would be, as there isn't a pattern to her work.

Two times a day, though, finding Melissa is easier. Sunrise and Sundown at what used to be the Yuria's palace: she will always be here at those hours.

It is autumn at this part of the planet. The sunlight is growing golden. I picked the longest route through the halls, and still I will be early. Not that there are 'early' and 'late' in this house. Yilsha tried to explain this to me once: "_In the House of the Yuria there can be no 'late' and 'early'_", she had told me, "_for those words imply a wrongness of timing: that a person or event did not occur at that time at which they were meant to be. Nonsense. Everything happens as it is meant to be, and everything happens at that time at which it is meant to be. Therefore, one cannot be 'early' or 'late' - at least not in this house_".

That's Netheriet logic for you. Oshra's preaching has emptied the words 'right' and 'wrong' of the content usually given to them. 'Wrong', as Oshra taught, is only to try and make something or someone into that which they are not. 'Evil' is not hate, malice or anger: coercion and intolerance are. Historically speaking, Netheriets were ready to accept an awful lot of people that the rest of the 'good people' considered beyond redemption, and I'd be mightily surprised if a single Yuria ever gave a damn. Yilsha always drew a childlike glee from confusing her visitors. "Somebody has got to keep things in one piece", she told one particularly bemused ambassador who tried to reason with her, and failed. It takes a Netheriet to consider opening a closed argument 'keeping things in one piece'.

What will Melissa grow to be like?

* * *

_Astro Megaship, geostationary orbit above Angel Grove_

"She's not going to like it", said Cassie flatly. "She'll _hate_ not being told"

"The situation is too unpredictable", argues Karone. "I don't want her hurt more than necessary"

"Best if she's not hurt at all", said Zhane.

"Too late for that, I'm afraid", said TJ.

"Guys", said Andros warily. "Look". He paused, trying to arrange his thought while his teammates and sister looked - or rather, glowered - at him. "We all consider Shiera a teammate, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Being a Ranger is not without rules. Three of those rules make the Power Ranger's Oath, but they are not the only rules of the Morphing Grid. Taking care of one's own is another one of those rules. Anyone who messes with a Ranger, had better be ready to face that Ranger's team and every other Ranger in the universe, too, if the situation calls for that". Andros paused again. "You all heard TJ's report. Shiera's family have no idea what being a Ranger means. They're not going to learn in one day, I'm afraid. They're also not going to learn on their own. We're going to help them learn. If we're going to protect Shiera, this is the way". Third pause. "And if any of you think we can get that kind of conversation with Shiera also present - I'm listening"

Nobody said anything. Andros nodded. "DECA? Call the Karlson residence and put them on the speaker"

"Let me talk to them", said TJ in a low voice, just audible over the dial tone. "They'll be expecting me"

Andros nodded mutely.

Amanda Karlson answered the phone. "Hello?" she said hoarsely.

"Mrs. Karlson? This is TJ Johnson speaking"

"TJ! Are there…?"

"Would it be okay if we come down?" interrupted TJ.

"We?" asked Amanda cautiously.

"The team", elaborated TJ. "May we teleport down?"

"Uh - sure", said Amanda, but she sounded skeptical. "When can we expect you?"

"A few seconds. See you". TJ nodded once, and DECA terminated the line.

"If you think I'm not coming, you're so wrong", said Karone.

"They're not ready for you", said TJ bluntly. "It took me ages to get them to accept that Shiera's evil episode was not of her own volition. They're yet to realize what _you've_ been through"

"Karone, stay", said Andros quietly. "She and Carlos might wake up while we're down there. She'll need you here"

Karone glared at him, but did not get up when the rest of them did.

Andros pulled at his uniform jacket self-consciously. "DECA, five to teleport"

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove, 05:30_

They materialized in the Karlson's living room, standing in formation, uniforms immaculate. Ethan Karlson looked at them skeptically. "Where's my daughter?" he demanded. "Have you found her yet?"

"Ethan". Amanda put her hand on her husband's arms. She didn't like the situation any more than he did - but the kids looked angry, and she figured making them angrier wouldn't make things better or easier.

"Shiera's safe", answered the guy in the middle of the formation. Andros, she remembered the name; red Astro Ranger, TJ had said �" not that she could mistake that, considering that the five kids before her were wearing color-coded shirts.

"So you found her?" she asked eagerly.

Andros' expression didn't shift at all. "She wasn't lost. She needed time - maybe still does". Ethan opened his mouth, but Andros beat him to it. "I know you have questions. Maybe we'll answer them later - _maybe_. After we make a certain point clear". Andros crossed his arms around his chest. For a medium-height guy, he did 'towering and menacing' like nobody's business. "Your daughter is a Power Ranger. So are we. Power Rangers take care of our own. You hurt her, you answer to us"

"I tried to explain last night", added TJ. "This isn't simple, on any of the involved parties. You'd better try, though, because everyone else is trying"

"So yes, you got angry with her last night because you thought she did something wrong", said Ashley quietly. "But we're the ones she tried to kill when she was under that spell. And you know what? None of us held a grudge. Not even for half a second"

"You felt hurt by what she told you", continued Cassie. "You probably still do. So you hurt her that bad that she_ fled_. Shiera doesn't flee from anything"

"You're probably thinking how dare we". Zhane took up the narrative. "You think that as you're her family, you have some right over her that we don't. You probably also think that as you're over twice our age, we don't have a right to preach to you. As Andros said before, and TJ probably tried to explain you last night, we are her family just as well, and you'd better learn to live with it. You're stuck with us. As for the age thing…" He shrugged. "My mom had some sharp things to say about this situation which I'm not going to quote. So age has no more to do with this than blood has"

It was Andros' turn again. "I don't think I need to tell you that no matter what happened last night, she wants to come home"

"She doesn't know we're having this conversation, by the way", said TJ dryly. "Keep it that way"

"So the choice is yours". Andros continued, ignoring TJ's interjection. "Because, I swear, one more stupid remark from either of you, and I don't care what she says, she doesn't set foot in this house ever again"

Ethan opened his mouth to say '_How dare you_', then thought better of it. Insolent or no, the kids before him probably could make sure he'd never see his daughter again. "We're her parents", he said flatly.

"Act like it", was the sharp answer from Cassie.

"Does any of your parents know?" asked Amanda suddenly.

"Of us from Earth? No", said Ashley.

"You think any of us want the team standing in front of our parents?" asked TJ.

"I don't understand", said Amanda quietly. "What do you expect from us? You can't…" she struggled with the words. "We can't pretend nothing happened. Forget Ethan and myself - do you have any idea what this is doing to Emma? She hardly fell asleep last night!"

"I didn't sleep", corrected a small voice.

The Rangers whirled around; the Karlsons stared. Emma's small form - looking even smaller in her nightclothes - shuffled uneasily towards them. "The phone woke me up. I heard you talking". There was no doubt that the kid didn't sleep at all. She looked like she'd been crying, too. Her face was set with childish stubbornness as she looked up at the Rangers. "I don't want her to go", she said. "I don't understand, but I do understand she didn't mean to hurt anyone. I just wanted to know why she wears green. I didn't want her to hate me"

"She doesn't hate you", said Cassie. "We were together the last day. She didn't say much about what happened, but trust me when I say she loves you, and nothing's ever going to change that"

"So why isn't she coming home?" demanded Emma. She blinked as tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't care if she's green, I don't want her to go away!"

Ashley locked eyes with Andros as Amanda walked past them and hugged her little daughter. Andros nodded once. "I'll go see if she's up", said Ashley to the air, and teleported out.

"It can't be that easy", said Ethan.

Andros turned to face him. "It isn't", he said.

"Don't be hard on Shiera, because she's harder on herself", said Zhane. "It's the same thing with Karone"

"Karone?" Ethan frowned. "Oh, Astronema"

Andros eyes narrowed dangerously. "Karone's my sister"

"As I told you last night", said TJ pointedly. "Look, guys, this is all pointless. Shiera'll probably be here in minutes. Let's try not to have a fight, okay?"

Ethan and Andros were still glaring daggers at each other.

* * *

_Netherie, Sunset Room at once-palace of the Yuria, sunset_

Melissa halted as she saw someone standing in the room. Then she recognized the person and rushed forward, even as Täna turned around and smiled, opening her arms.

"Täna! I didn't know you're here!"

The queen of Triforia's smile softened as she held the younger Yuria. "I didn't know I'd be here, either", she said. "I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd drop by"

"In the neighborhood". Melissa sounded skeptic.

"Hurán needed a favor", admitted Täna. "He'll probably tell you about it later on, but there wasn't really a reason to bother you with it"

Melissa knew a lie when she heard one, be it a white lie or not, but she wasn't going to call Täna on it. Hurán would tell her later, anyway, and Täna knew she couldn't really lie to Melissa. She adjusted her head against Täna's shoulder, and Täna strengthened her hold somewhat.

"You know I only want to help, right?" she asked.

Melissa frowned. "What's on your mind, Täna?"

"Healing this planet. Healing you". Täna paused. "The Golden Guard have been working miracles, but they're just not enough"

"Don't you think I know that?"

"How come you never held a press conference?"

Melissa raised her head and looked at Täna. "A press conference?" she repeated.

"That's when you talk to a lot of media people at the same time", clarified Täna. "Though I think you know that"

"Why are you asking?"

"You need more people", repeated Täna. "How are you going to get them if no one knows what things are like here?"

Melissa broke the hug. "If they knew the extent of the damage, they'd call me crazy for trying to heal this planet. They would't think it's possible. I'm not sure it's possible, myself"

"Yes, you are", countered Täna. "If you hadn't believed it possible you wouldn't be standing here, you'd be dead. But you're alive, and there are so many people in this universe, that enough of them would believe. There are planets there with billions of people, Melissa. Enough of them will believe, if given a chance"

Melissa shook her head, and there was fury and sadness in her expression that stopped Täna from reaching out to her again. "Detox", Melissa reminded her. "Most species need daily detox to survive here"

"With all the medical supplies the old Eltaran Pact planets are dishing out, a few more med units would hardly be noticeable", said Täna wryly. "I checked the budget, trust me"

"You talk as if you have the Pact planets behind you"

"Dimitria's in on this, so I've as good as got Inquirus. Together we can probably talk everyone else into helping. Any kind of plan requires you on the nets, though. I'm not asking you to leave Netherie. Just give them a speech. Netherie will probably be flooded with more volunteers than you can assimilate in under a week"

Melissa's face tightened. Anticipating her next argument, Täna added: "You shouldn't do this alone, Melissa" To her surprise, Melissa looked away, arms tightening around her body.

"Oshra keeps saying that", said Melissa distantly. "She keeps saying no one should be alone"

Täna was seriously tempted to point out that Oshra's advice had always been good, but she knew why accepting this particular offer from Oshra would bother Melissa.

"It's a matter of measure", offered Täna tentatively after a moment. "You're more alone than you should be"

"I'm not nearly alone enough"

Täna shook her head. "I don't know her at all, but I don't think she'll do that to you", she told Melissa. "Don't ignore a good piece of advice just because the source is slightly over-involved"

Melissa's grip tightened on her arms; Täna winced - this has got to hurt. "Will you be there, when I talk to them?" she asked in a barely-audible whisper, then added in the same voice: "I don't even know what to say"

"Yes, I'll be there", said Täna, moving closer to Melissa. "I have every intention of always being there when you need me. And if Karone can't write that speech for you, I've got speechwriters in spades".

Very slowly, Täna tried to pull Melissa into another hug, and Melissa allowed herself to be pulled. Her eyes closed, and Täna knew she'd probably be crying soon.

"The sun changes", whispered Melissa. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell when the sun touched the horizon and sunset proper began.

"The sun always changes, Melissa", said Täna. "At any time of the day, be it sunset, sunrise or midday". It was in the Rays - the collection of tractates and story that was the first text Netheriet acolytes were exposed to. Melissa probably knew the text by heart.

Melissa opened her eyes. She seemed to be staring into the sun. "It never looks like it's really changing, though"

"Always changing and never changing", agreed Täna. Another quote.

"Always and never", murmured Melissa, and Täna had the impression that Melissa was talking to the voice in her head as much as she was talking to her. "Change and fixity, together and always". Melissa raised her hand, lazily greeting the sunset. "Planets are round. It's sunset here, but it's sunrise somewhere else"

At that moment, the sun reached the precise angle the designer of the room has had in mind, and rainbows scattered all over the bare walls. This room was one of the precious few rooms that were already repainted. The walls were plain bare white, but so they were meant to be: only the sunset light, broken by the great prismatic windows, decorated this room.

Melissa turned her head to watch the rainbows. "Rainbows are like memories, aren't they? Like ghosts"

_Ghosts of the past. Ghosts of the dead_. Täna's eyes closed in pain. "Memories are a good thing, Melissa", she said. "Even when they bring pain. I wouldn't want - I wouldn't want not to miss some things, if it means I never would've had them"

"Ghosts", whispered Melissa again. "Sad ghosts. They want to be real, not just reflections on the walls". Light wove around her fingers, tendrils of gold and purple.

"They're real", whispered Täna fiercely. "They're real, those ghosts"

"Most people don't see other people's ghosts"

" 'Don't' doesn't mean they can't. They can, if you'll make it so"

"What if I can't?"

"You can, baby". Täna held her a little closer. "You can"

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove, 05:55_

TJ found himself holding his fingers crossed behind his back when three teleportation beams, together with Karone's signature outline, appeared in the hallway. There was just no knowing how the situation would develop from here: maybe Shiera and her family would fall on each other's shoulders and all would be well for a while, and maybe someone would say something stupid and the whole cycle will begin again.

The silence was a killer. It seemed that nobody was even breathing. Ethan and Amanda were on either side of the hallway, with the Rangers in the middle; Emma was with Amanda. Of the Rangers, Cassie, Zhane, Andros and he were standing in a close pack, with himself standing very close to Andros, as if to remind the red Ranger to think before acting. Of those who just teleported in, Ashley was slightly behind the other three; Karone was giving a credible impression of being composed; and Carlos' hand was on Shiera's shoulder. As for Shiera…

_God, if only someone would** move **already!_

Emma seemed to think the same thing, because she practically leaped from the spot. Shiera caught her, and then the parents moved, too, and the four Karlsons formed a tangle of hugs and tears.

The Astro Rangers rearranged themselves, all the team standing together now, with Carlos closest to the Karlsons and Karone right next to him. "You could've woken us first", Carlos told Andros accusingly.

"It was safer this way", said Andros.

"We should probably give them some time", said Ashley in a low voice. "They _really_ need to talk"

"They're not the only ones", said Zhane. "I think some of us have stories to share, too". He glared pointedly in Andros' direction, which initiated glares from Karone and Ashley, too; Andros had the manners to look sheepish.

"Yeah", said Cassie suddenly. "There are most definitely stories to be told today". She, too, glared at Andros.

"What did I do now?" demanded Andros, who was developing an harassed look at the combine force of the glares directed at him.

"The usual", said Cassie. "Keeping secrets"

"Disappearing", added Ashley.

"Being inconsiderate of others' emotions", continued Zhane.

"Risking your life without a good enough reason", concluded Karone. "Team breakfast sounds like a good idea. We can talk while cooking"

TJ raised his hands. "Don't look at me", he informed Andros. "You brought it on yourself"

"Let's just get out of here", said Zhane, "before they notice us again"

"Good point", murmured Cassie.

"DECA?" Andros raised his communicator. "Six to teleport"

* * *

_Earth, Angel Grove park, early morning_

"I sail to you across the stars…" hummed Cassie to herself, pencil hovering over the page. "No, it's not right". The pencil descended and stroke out the words. A shadow fell over her notebook.

"Hi, Cass" TJ set on the grass next to her. "What're you doing?"

"Writing"

"Looks more like erasing to me", He said flippantly, looking down at the sheets.

She shoved him, but had very little success as she was sprawled on her stomach and he was sitting.

"I've got most of the song written down, but I can't seem to get the chorus right", she admitted. "Finished wolfing down everybody else's breakfast?"

"Hey!" he protested good-naturedly. "Did not!" Before Cassie could say something, he added: "Zhane beat me to it"

Cassie snorted. "Did you ever wonder", she asked suddenly, "I mean, the current team seem so dysfunctional at times, but we made it out okay. The old Turbo team was going good, but we lost. What gives?"

"I don't know", he said frankly. He didn't need to ask what brought up the question - they've already shared all the stories that needed to be shared.

"Ever thought about it?"

"Hell, yeah" He shook his head. "Maybe we should ask Karone, if we really want to know"

"Karone?" Cassie seemed skeptical.

"Zordon's heir and all that. She knows everything he knows"

"Weren't the crystals supposed to contain Zordon's memories only up to the point where he took off his crystal - several millennia ago?"

"Looks like he poured the rest of it in when he healed the crystals". He paused. "Tell me next time you're going there. I want to meet Aaji"

Cassie nodded. "Ashley really wants to get to know Anarad, too. I can see how they relate to one another - but from the little I saw of Aaji, she's nothing like you"

"You're very little like Kat", he pointed out, "and Carlos is _nothing_ like Adam, except that the both like soccer"

Zhane's shadow covered Cassie's sheets. "You shouldn't talk about this stuff so early in the morning," he told them. "Come join the game"

"What game?" asked Cassie. She rolled on her back, Zhane's shadow sheltering her eyes from direct sunlight.

"The Frisbee game he and Andros are so cheating at"

"No, we're not", said Zhane. "Not with Ashley in the game: if either of us tries anything, she'll have the Frisbee in our faces. I tried. Come on", he insisted.

Cassie shrugged, which looked weird lying down. "It's not like I'm being productive", she said. "Writing will wait"

Zhane grinned, and pulled her up when she held out her arms. "Come on", he told TJ. "It's a beautiful day, and nobody's here but us"

"Because we're the only guys crazy enough to be at the park at sunrise", pointed out TJ, but he got up nonetheless. "Now, where's that Frisbee?"

**Author's Note:**

> Loving gratitude to Roie, friend and beta reader, and also the person who came up with this particular rendition of the Phantom.


End file.
